


An Albatross around her neck

by Philefic



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-28
Updated: 2016-01-28
Packaged: 2018-05-16 19:18:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 33,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5837773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Philefic/pseuds/Philefic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This story carries on from my first fic 'Pyrexia'. Mulder and Scully continue to navigate their way through the complexity's of their work and relationship. An undercover assignment investigating a haunting on a luxurious cruise liner offers new challenges and big surprises.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am moving all of my Fanfiction to this archive.

PROLOGUE

"Are you still awake babe?" Ellen shifted her husband's heavy head that lay in her lap with her knee, he didn't respond. She shifted slightly in their oversized couch. "Jason?"

"Mmm, I'm awake." He replied very sleepily.

"No you're not." She ran her hand down his arm and interlaced their fingers. He was curled up along the couch, resting his head on top of her thighs. She had picked the movie, it was her favourite clearly it wasn't his. "I'm thirsty, be a doll and get me a drink will you?" She shifted her knees again and again she got silence. She shifted more violently and his head bounced on her knee.

"Ow, I'm awake" he turned over to face her stomach. "What do you want from me wife?"

"Wife" she smiled. "That's the first time you have called me that." She leant down and kissed him tenderly on the lips.

"That's what you are" he smiled against her mouth then kissed her again.

"Get me a glass of water please." She whispered against his mouth "husband." She stretched the syllables of the word out against his lips.

"Are you going to be like this for the next eight months?" He asked nudging her naval with his nose, trying to sound indignant.

She sat back against the back of the couch "Yes, yes I am."

He nudged the bottom of her t-shirt up. "Hello little bundle of multiplying cells that will someday be my son." Her knee nudged his cheek in protest. "Or daughter" he added and felt her relax under him, satisfied with his added response. "Your mummy is being very demanding this week."

"Well daddy shouldn't have knocked mummy up on their wedding night."

"Are you allowed to say 'knocked up' in the presence of our unborn child?"

"It is a bundle of cells remember and I'm still thirsty."

"Aaargh" he protested and pulled himself to a standing position. She rubbed her belly where his mouth had left a warm patch still completely unbelieving that she was pregnant so soon. She had gone off the pill just a month before the wedding but hadn't expected to get pregnant until at least after the honeymoon, likely not for months even a year, that was what everyone told her anyway.

She was pleased, of course she was, she always wanted to have children and she was having them with the man she loved. Guilt hit the pit of her stomach with that thought and she brushed her hand across her middle hoping she could brush away the feeling with it.

She had only just started her new job; the boss was hesitant giving her leave for her wedding and honeymoon. How were they going to take it when she told them she needed maternity leave in six months too? At least Jason had a good job at the restaurant and was next in line for the head chef position. But working as a chef meant late nights and sleeping during the day, which could be a challenge with a newborn in the house. She sighed deeply and looked around. Their apartment was small and the heating was broken at the moment. How were they all going to fit, how were they going to pay the bills? The thoughts were racing through her mind like a night train and she mentally screeched on the breaks, she had a good man, one who adored her, worked hard and hell he even cooked. She smiled to herself feeling reassured, they could make it work. Thank goodness his parents had paid for the cruise otherwise their honeymoon would probably have been in some cheap hotel probably not far out of their own state. When she had found out she was pregnant he had suggested refunding their tickets, going back to work, getting some money behind them for the baby. Could she possibly love him anymore? No if they didn't go now it would be years before they got the opportunity again and hell she had three months left to rock her bikini body where better to do it then on a tropical cruise. The morning sickness hadn't kicked in yet and she hoped that meant she was going to be spared from that little inconvenience.

"At least your father will think we actually waited until we were married." He called from the kitchen.

She could hear the ice machine and water running from the tap. "Ha, you keep telling yourself that." He came back with a tall glass of water, the ice chinked against the sides. "Thank you." She took the glass from him and he re-joined her on the couch.

He watched her, stunned as she drained the glass in a few large gulps. "You were thirsty."

"Your spawn is sucking me dry."

"Are you going to be alright on this cruise?"

She looked sideways at him "It's our honeymoon; I'm not going to miss our honeymoon Jason."

He rubbed his thumb affectionately over her cheek. "We could postpone."

"Till when, the kids have left home? We've been through this, I'll be fine." She tried to sound convincing, unsure if it was for his benefit or hers. Then it hit her "oh god."

"What?" He drew his hand back quickly and moved away from her slightly thinking he had hurt her in some way.

"Oh god" she repeated clasping her hand over her mouth, scrambling out of the seat and running to the bathroom.

He cringed as he heard her vomit violently and repeatedly into their toilet. "Are you alright?" he called. He cringed again when she wretched in response. "This is going to be fun" he laughed to himself then got up to fetch another glass of water.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Oh she needed this - a hot bath with thick, aromatic bubbles, candles and a glass of pricey pinot, Special Agent Dana Scully took her weekends off very seriously. There was soft classical music coming from her lounge and she smiled with her eyes closed and took another sip of wine. Her last case had been hell one of the ones that landed both her and Mulder in a hospital bed. The paperwork had taken up the better half of a month and she knew her meeting the next day in Skinners office meant another case was going to send them across the country somewhere. For now she was content in completing her 'weekend off' ritual. Waxing her legs, making a homemade face mask, dying her roots, re-shaping her brows and soaking in a bath so hot and full of bubbles she ran the risk of shrivelling into a prune and drowning. At least she would go down with a smile on her face she thought. She heard the door open and light, familiar footsteps cross the bathroom floor. He didn't move for a long time or say anything and she smiled knowing he was standing there simply admiring the view. Her foot rested on the edge of the bath and she felt him come and sit awkwardly next to it. She kept her eyes closed and kept quiet waiting for him to make a move or say something instead she felt a familiar hand take her ankle and start to rhythmically massage the soul of her foot. Just when she thought this bath couldn't get any better! She sunk down letting the water level reach over her shoulders and tickle the back of her pulled up hair. "I thought you weren't going to come over tonight?" she asked without opening her eyes.

"I got a call" he replied resting her foot on his shoulder and extending the massage to her lower leg.

She could feel his two day old stubble scratching the thoroughly soaked skin on the top of her foot. "Oooooooww" she flinched as he ran his thumb through the belly of her calf muscle, which was always tight from long days in her heels. What marvellous hands this man had. "Who from?"

"Skinners office, they are sending me away on assignment."

"Alone?" She snapped her eyes open and looked at him. He was perched delicately on the edge of the bath and had the full length of her leg in his grasp. He stilled his hands momentarily and nodded his head.

"Where?"

He bit his lower lip not willing to commit to an answer. She knew that meant she wasn't allowed to know.

"For how long?"

"Two weeks, possibly a month."

She dropped her gaze and stared intently at some of the bubbles floating around her. "What about this undercover case with Agent Doggett we are supposed to be briefed on tomorrow" she asked moving her hands over the top of the fluffy bubbles nervously.

He shrugged in response avoiding her questioning eyes by concentrating on his hands moving slowly over the defined muscles. She took her leg back from his grasp and submerged it back beneath the warm water, closed her eyes again and took another sip of wine. That meant the conversation was over. His hands were still posed mid-air as if they still held her leg, he dropped them to his side as his head fell forward the way it always did when he had managed to disappoint her.

She heard the bathroom door click closed behind him and drew a long, deep breath parting the bubbles on the water's surface as she exhaled through pursed lips. It wasn't his fault she considered, she wasn't angry at him really; he was just the closest target to aim her frustration at (as usual). But what did this mean? They had been separated before, Mulder had been asked to consult on other cases in the past but why was she being assigned to another case with another agent. This Agent Doggett had come to their office just last week regarding a case he had been working on, a ghost on a cruise liner. Ghosts were Mulders department, why send him away and leave her with this Doggett, who seemed to be more sceptical then she is.

The music had run to the end of the CD, the bubbles were now slippery sludge across the now tepid water and she suddenly wasn't enjoying her bath anymore. The air was cold on her warmed skin when she emerged from the water. She turned the light on and blew out the candles then faced the mirror to complete here night time ritual. She brushed her hair and applied a generous amount of anti-wrinkle crème. Even though she knew scientifically that wrinkle development had more to do with genetics and lifestyle then how much you spent on face crème. Then considering her lifestyle and the man who was no doubt waiting for her in her bed -no amount of anti-wrinkle crème could flatten her 'worry lines.'

When she emerged from the bathroom she found him sitting against the headboard, his glasses on reading a case file. When he saw her he discarded his glasses and the file and pulled back the covers inviting her to join him. She disrobed and climbed in snuggling her head onto his welcoming bare chest. She inhaled him deeply, he smelled so good, and he felt so good under her cheek. She exhaled a long sigh silently hating how much she had come to depend on him being there. "What time do you need to leave?"

"5am" he replied stroking her hair.

She sighed again and drew him down to lye next to her. He kissed her deeply letting her know how much he was going to miss her. She let him make love to her and when she cried out in pleasure she let him know she would miss him too and in the morning when she woke he was gone.


	2. Chapter Two

Scully took large strides down the length of the hall that stretched through the FBI building to her boss's door. A trip she had taken more times than she dared count, usually with trepidation in her heart. But today she was just angry and she had it written all over her face. A few innocent passer byers stepped out of her path avoiding the risk of a shoulder bunt. "Good morning Agent Scully" a young female agent she didn't recognize said as she passed. She smiled a close lipped smile not slowing her pace.

When she arrived at the office of Deputy Director Walter Skinner she paused and took the folded piece of paper out of her pocket. It had a name "Rick" and a cell number on it in her partners hand writing. He had left it next to her coffee mug this morning. Her brow creased, she didn't know any Rick and when she dialed the number she just got a disconnected tone. Hoping it would make sense in the not too distant future she pocketed it and tried to do the same with the many questions she had running through her mind. Placing it back into her jacket she opened the door and entered her boss's office.

"Good morning Agent Scully" Agent Doggett stood to greet her and extended his hand.

She took it hesitantly "Agent Doggett." He didn't get a smile. In fact he looked nervous, like he knew something she didn't. She narrowed her eyes at him an expression that read 'what aren't you telling me?' Mulder would read that expression, but Doggett just kept on looking uncomfortable. "Everything okay Agent Doggett?"

"Yeah, Yeah" he shuffled his feet uncomfortably.

Scully took her seat on the coach and gathered her hands in her lap. Yeah, he knew something and instinctively she knew whatever it was she wasn't going to like it.

"Thanks for helping me out on this."

She gave him a forced closed mouth smile that was more a curl of a mouth than a smile. 'Like there was a choice. ' "I'm a little confused Agent Doggett, ghosts are Agent Mulders expertise not mine and apparently he won't be joining us on this investigation. I'm not really sure how much help I am going to be." He didn't answer her and he hadn't joined her on the couch. Oh he definitely knew something and she definitely wasn't going to like it.

A phone buzzed on Skinners secretary's desk. "The deputy director will see you now."

"After you" Doggett gestured to the door. Scully stood shooting him another look as she did. Another one Mulder would have been able to read and one that would have made him nervous.

When they entered Skinner was scribbling something on a piece of paper on his desk he didn't look up at them when he spoke. "Good morning Agents take a seat I'll be with you in a moment."

Doggett and Scully entered the office and took their seats in front of his desk. The events of the morning had distracted Scully and as she looked over at her boss she suddenly remembered their last interaction. If she was the blushing type this may have been one of those occasions but instead she shuffled uncomfortably in her chair hoping he had forgotten. They had been standing over an unconscious Mulder and she had impolitely implied that by backing up her report on their current X-file he was essentially no longer kissing an 'official arse.' She had sent the report to him over a week ago and she was yet to see him sign off on it. It was a stressful situation; surely he would let her off the hook. She bit her bottom lip feeling a little nervous, as he scribbled frantically on the piece of paper in front of him.

"Kimberly" he called to his secretary and handed her the piece of paper looking up at the agents in front of him. "Agent Doggett" Doggett nodded in greeting. "Agent Scully, long time no see." A slight panic registered in her eyes, he was going to say something. "How is agent Mulders shoulder?"

Crap "Ah fine sir, he has resumed field duty as of today I believe."

"Yes."

Yes? Dammit she was hoping he would reveal a bit more about his secret assignment. Instead he pulled an envelope out of his draw and emptied it onto his desk. Three rings hit the desk clinking together as they landed. One gained momentum and began rolling off the desk towards Scully; instinctively she pulled her hand out as it made its way off the desk catching it mid-air. It sat cold in her palm and she slowly brought it up to her line of sight, it was a wedding band.

Skinner leaned over and looked at the ring in her palm. "That's Agent Doggett's; these are yours." He pushed the engagement and wedding band across his desk in her direction.

She realized her lower jaw was on her chest and quickly snapped her mouth shut "Sir?" She looked at him perplexed, then over at Doggett who was looking at his clenched hands sitting on his lap.

"Have you briefed Agent Scully, Agent Doggett?"

"No Sir. I felt it was more appropriate that you brief Agent Scully."

Scully was looking a little dumb founded between the pair. Setting her sights on Doggett - oh she was spot on he knew something and the gold band sitting like a giant weight in her palm meant she definitely wasn't going to like it. "Ok somebody please brief Agent Scully" she looked back at Skinner one of those looks again that, yes skinner was familiar with - 'she's been left out of the loop, fill her in quick or you'll find a loop around your balls.'

Skinners attention turned to Doggett; he dragged his eyes over him sitting nervously in his chair. 'Coward, more appropriate huh? More safe was more like it'. "As you know agent Doggett has been working on a series of disappearances on a cruise liner called 'the Marilyn.' Two victims in total a man and a woman no connection other than the fact they were honeymooners. The Marilyn is in a three month sail, coming into port along the coast line between various tropical locations around the country. On its last voyage a man named Jonathon Jacobs disappeared, another honeymooner, his wife Alexandra hung herself from the roof of their cabin. The captain has had multiple reporting's from other passengers of visitations from a woman dressed in a white night gown and rope burn around her neck believed to be the ghost of Alexandra Jacobs. The captain and many of the crew and passengers have decided that this 'ghost' is responsible for these latest disappearances." He paused hoping she would blink or give another response other than that intense stare.

"Agent Doggett briefed me on that part last week Sir. The most logical solution is the passengers disembarked the ship unnoticed or they fell overboard. I don't understand why this falls under F.B.I jurisdiction, or why I'm involved, or, or, Sir what are the wedding rings for?"

"You did hear me mention the ghost, didn't you?"

"With all due respect Sir I don't believe in ghosts."

"Ah but you do work on The X Files Agent Scully."

"With Agent Mulder. . . . Sir!"

Doggett's head moved from Scully to Skinner like he was watching a tennis ball rally back and forward, feeling suddenly inconsequential to the conversation.

"He's been temporarily reassigned." Skinner stamped his authority and Scully buttoned her lips. "Agent Doggett has been corresponding with law enforcement on the ship. Detective..."

"Wilkes, Annie Wilkes". Doggett assisted.

"You're kidding?" Scully said 'did I say that out loud?'

"Wilkes; and no the irony is not lost on me." Skinner continued. "Detective Wilkes has turned up evidence suggesting a more cynical solution to your own. We feel an undercover approach would fit. You and Agent Doggett will board the ship at the next port, as honeymooners. We have another agent on board working with detective Wilkes you two will be in the perfect position to assess the situation. Draw a connection to our victim's, lure the perpetrator and assist with avoiding unnecessary panic amongst those on board."

"Why don't you just bring the ship in? If you really believe someone is killing people on that ship surely it is in the best interests of those left to remove them from potential harm?" Scully reasoned.

"The Marilyn is as lustrous as its title, only the rich and famous can afford to board this ship and they are hard people to negotiate with, it doesn't help that they all seem to be enjoying the murder mystery intrigue. There are 2000 people on that boat with passports from all over the world; you two will be the only new passengers to board. The smart move here is to keep everyone contained on that ship while we conduct our investigation. We have an excellent surveillance network on board and Detective Wilkes and our own agent on top of the investigation. All you two have to do is mingle amongst the potential victims, make yourselves attractive to our killer, find out what you can and report to the investigative team." Scully's posture had eased a little bit. "I could think of worse places to go undercover Agent Scully, think of it as a working vacation."

Yes a luxury, high class cruise on the bureau did sound like heaven, what a shame she was with the wrong man. Her face relaxed when she thought how easily she and Mulder could have pulled off this 'charade'. Scully handed Doggett his ring and then retrieved hers from the desk slipping them onto her fingers. Arguing was futile the course was set and she was now a married woman. "I do" she said feigning a blushing bride smile "when do we board?"

"Tomorrow you need to be at the dock at 9am." he handed her a file. "Here is your background story and new I.D's. Bon Voyage Agents" the meeting was over, Doggett and Scully stood and turned to leave. Once Doggett had left the office Skinner called her back "Oh Agent Scully." She stopped inside the doorway and turned to face him. "Don't worry about Agent Mulder Scully, he's safe. He'll be in touch as soon as he can."

As un-reassured as she was by that statement she was pleased he had brought it up. "Thank you sir" she turned to leave and he called her back.

"Scully." She stopped mid stride but didn't turn to face him this time. "I got your report from your last case, thank you thorough as always. I sent it to Agent Mulders office it should be on his desk." She nodded her head. "Oh and Scully" she stopped again. "I sealed it with a kiss."

Shit, he remembered, she squared her shoulders and continued her descent out of the office. Doggett was waiting for her at the door. "Did you want to grab a coffee or something Agent Scully, perhaps go over our file?"

"No, ah I don't think that's really necessary Agent Doggett. If we are going to be away for a week or so I think I better tie up a few loose ends in the office and then go home and pack. I can read through the file later, I'm sure it isn't too complicated." She gave him a soft smile if she was going to play married for the week or so she better start playing nice, she thought to herself. But she needed some space, time to herself and time to try and figure out where the hell Mulder had gone. "Pick me up in the morning, say 6am? If we are to play newlyweds we should probably arrive at the dock together."

"Ok" thank god she was smiling he thought. He was waiting for a tongue thrashing and not the pleasant kind newlyweds actually shared. "6am?"

"6am" she repeated.

"I'll see you then." He watched her walk away, towards the elevator. He fiddled with the foreign jewelry around his wedding finger as he watched. He had worn something similar once he wandered if his false marriage to Scully was going to end as tragically as his real marriage.

Xxx

Scully used her key and entered Mulders apartment. Once inside she scanned the empty room, the curtains were drawn, there were dirty dishes in the sink and his shirt from the day had been left strewn untidily on the couch, he had obviously left in a hurry. She walked over to the fish tank and sprinkled a few flakes across the clear surface. They all gathered up to the top eating hungrily causing a frenzy of splashes, at least she remembered to feed them. She looked down at his desk and started to shuffle the paperwork on top of it then opened each drawer in turn hoping to find some clue as to where he might be or what he might be doing. She found a note pad roughly the same size as the piece of paper he had written her note on. She grabbed it from her pocket un-crinkling it to compare the paper. The note had come from this pad she realized and gathered a pencil from his stationary jar. She rubbed the pencil edge over the surface of the top page, the name "Rick" appeared under the lead point and the cell number. It was definitely the same pad, she continued to run the side of the pencil further down the page and another image appeared. It was fainter though, it must have been written on the page prior to her note, she thought. It read CN231 as that number ran through her mind her eyes moved left to right as if searching for some familiarity, she shook her head when nothing came to mind - that didn't make any sense either but she tore the page from the pad and placed it with her note back into her pocket. She sat at the desk and switched the computer on, the history was clear, either he hadn't been at the computer the entire time he was on sick leave or he had cleared the history knowing she would check it. She sighed again and switched the computer back to off. The rings around her finger suddenly became heavy and she turned them a few times between her fingers looking around the room again, hoping something would look out of place falling instead on the shirt lying across the couch. She picked it up and brought it to her face inhaling deeply; she was rewarded with that unique 'Muldery' musk she had come to love. "Get a grip" she said out loud to herself and grabbed the socks and shoes from the floor taking them into the bedroom and throwing them at his washing basket. Then she gathered the towels from the bathroom floor and joined them with the dirty clothes, pulled up his bed, cleaned his dishes and left.

Xxxx

Mulder watched them board the ship from a distance. The wig he wore itched under his hat in the heat and he scratched at it almost painfully. He could live with the red sox hat after all who would recognize him in that but the contacts; they made him want to scratch at his eyeballs. Something he had never thought was physically possible until having to wear them. The contacts altered the shade of his irises, he knew if he were to come face to face with Scully aboard this ship no matter how good the wig, hat and beard were she would recognize him the instant she looked into his eyes. There is something about locking eyes with your soul mate as they make love to you, when you watch their shade change from pure desire and love, you never forget. Thinking of her eyes made him want to see them but she had them planted firmly on the floor. She was at least two steps behind her companion as they crossed the bridge that boarded them to the ship. Her companion – so that was Agent Doggett he looked exactly as Mulder had pictured him. Ex-military crew cut, cocky squared shoulders. He was sharing a joke with the staff escorting them aboard while Scully was negotiating with the concierge who was taking their luggage. She looked stunning in a long white sun dress that outlined her curves perfectly. He made a mental note to take her on a real vacation soon. Doggett turned back and leant down to whisper something in her ear; Mulder took pleasure in noting her amount of discomfort at this intimate gesture. He realized he had been worrying the inside of his cheek with his teeth and was starting to build an ulcer so he ducked his head and walked away.

"Here's your room folks, I hope you enjoy your stay aboard the Marilyn." The polite ship mate unlocked and opened the door to the cabin and they filed in in front of the eager, young concierge who was pushing a trolley that carried their luggage.

"Thank you" Doggett said to each man placing a note in each of their hands. Scully said nothing just walked into the room and began surveying her surroundings.

"We hope you and your lovely bride enjoy your stay" the crew member said to Doggett winking his eye suggestively.

"We will thank you." He closed the door behind them and stayed facing it preparing himself to turn to Scully. She had hardly said a word to him on the trip to the docks and was yet to speak since they had boarded the ship.

"John and Dana Smith." She finally broke the silence and he turned to face her. "Not very original."

"I guess the bureau felt it was safer to stay as close to our actual identities as possible. I mean we don't know each other very well do we? We are less likely to slip if we stick as close to reality as we can. If anyone asks I can say this is my wife Dana, she is a medical doctor."

"And my husband John, the military officer."

"Well you are a doctor."

"Yes I am and you - were you in the military?"

"Yes, before I joined the bureau." There was an awkward silence as they stood facing each other, each wandering what they should say next.

"So… . . ..John" again she was the first to break the awkward moment. "I read through the summary on our assignment and through what you have so far on this case."

"And?"

"Well why is it that the investigator on board doesn't know about us? Am I to understand the captain and assigned FBI agent on board are the only two who know about our presence on this ship?"

"Yes, well no one is above suspicion here. It is vital we remain as inconspicuous as possible. Not only that but we have significant surveillance set up throughout the ship. Every corner of every room has a camera, every computer and phone has been tapped."

Scully looked down at the honeymoon suite bed, realizing in that moment that if they were to keep up this charade they were going to have to share this bed.

Doggett noted her line of sight and read her thoughts. He cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. "I'll communicate with the on board agent via a scrambled cell phone line. He has control over the surveillance." He shifted his sight over the bed as he spoke "so he can control the cameras in this room. I'll take the couch."

Scully walked towards him a little apprehensively until she was standing directly in front of him "Agent Doggett?"

"John" he corrected.

"John."

"Yes Dana."

"This is going to sound strange." She watched his adams apple bob up and down as he swallowed nervously at their close proximity. "I need you to um touch me."

"Pardon?" he sounded shocked and went to stand back.

"It's just, well you are going to have to touch me when we are out there with all the newlyweds who are actually madly in love" she waved her hand at the door gesturing to the other passengers somewhere behind it "And, well…. Like you said, we don't know each other very well. It's just that." (God, could this be any more awkward). "Well every time you touch me I feel like I'm cheating on Mmm…." she caught herself mid word.

"Oh you're, involved with someone?"

She nodded.

"This is strictly professional" He gestured his hands in a surrender position. "I don't intend to maul you in public Agent Scully."

"Dana."

"I was being professional to prove a point."

She smiled and for the first time today it wasn't forced. "Ok so we agree no 'mauling.'"

"No unnecessary touching, I promise." He returned her smile.

"Good thank you. I still need to not flinch every time you touch me though." She stretched her neck from side to side and lifted her shoulders up to her ears then down again a couple of times as if she was preparing her muscles for a workout. "Just run your hands down my arms." She stretched her neck again preparing herself "ok go."

"This is just how I pictured my honeymoon night." He said sarcastically. "New brides are supposed to be nervous but you are taking this to a whole new level." She raised one eyebrow at him. "Ok, Ok, sorry, professional. I can do professional." He raised his hands to her shoulder level, open palmed.

She closed her eyes anticipating the contact consciously forcing herself to relax. She drew from a memory of Mulder standing in front of her just as Doggett was except he had been in a plain pair of cotton boxers and she had been wearing a simple silk nighty with thin straps. Mulder had laced a single finger under each tiny strap and then slowly drew them off her shoulders. She felt Doggett touch the tips of her shoulder and she drew a short breath. Keeping her eyes closed the memory played out behind her eyes. As Doggett ran his palms down the length of her arms Mulder was lowering her straps inside her mind's eye. But wear Doggett stopped when he got to her elbows Mulder continued to lower the thin garment until it fell first to her hips then to the floor leaving her standing completely bare and ready for him to devour here.

"Dana?" Someone was calling her.

"Dana?" Doggett's voice dragged her back to reality "Where did you go?"

"Ah no-where sorry" she was a little flushed and backed away from him. I um feel much more …..relaxed, thank you. Ah, I might go and have a look at the deck."

"Ok" whoa what just happened? Doggett thought, he couldn't help but notice her response. "I'll Unpack and see you for dinner?"

"Great, yeah, dinner" she called leaving their cabin and closing the door behind her.

Mulder watched from his cabin. He could access the camera feed on his personal computer so he could keep an eye on the passengers. He watched Doggett and Scully; they appeared to be having an awkward conversation. He couldn't hear them and the feed wasn't good enough to be able to read their lips clearly. But they were both looking over the bed, god he wished he knew what they were saying. Then she stepped up to him, she was standing so close to him and he wondered what on earth she could be doing.

He had no right to be jealous, he knew that sub-consciously and he trusted her beyond belief and knew she was the most professional female agent in the hoover build . . … His thoughts were interrupted by the image he was watching on the screen. He was touching her, his primitive male instincts kicked in and he rose from the chair ready to storm down to their cabin and then he saw her, the expression on her face and the relaxation in her shoulders he knew it well. "Scully"? He whispered questioning. Then he tasted blood and realized he had been biting that ulcer inside his cheek a little too firmly. He snapped the laptop closed in disgust.

A buzzing in his pocket broke him out of his shocked state. He couldn't tell how much time had passed but he was still standing with his hands either side of the laptop on his desk, a confused look spread over his features. It must have been a while because his shoulders were starting to ache at holding his weight. His satellite phone was buzzing in his pocket. He pulled it out and recognized the number instantly, it was her. He threw the phone next to the computer and moved into the bathroom to remove the irritating contacts.


	3. Chapter Three

"Are you feeling any better?" Jason crossed their small cabin to his wife lying on the bed looking far too pale. "Ellen?" He rubbed his hand over her lower abdomen where his child lay growing underneath it. She began to rouse. "Hi" he smiled softly at her sleepy face. "Are you feeling any better?"

She smiled back at him, he looked so worried. "Yeah babe, don't look so worried morning sickness is a normal, even healthy sign."

"Is it supposed to last all day?"

"Well the whole being on a rocking ship thing doesn't help." She laughed trying to relax him. It didn't work.

"We are about to leave the dock are you sure you don't want to get off?"

"No I'm fine Jason really, in fact I feel like a walk. I might go up onto the front deck and watch us leave the port." He sat back letting her rise out of the bed, she did her best to steady herself in front of him when she stood. "See fine." She bent down to where he knelt and kissed him gently on the lips. "I'll see you at dinner."

Ellen took small steps across the large ship deck. The wooden path moved silently beneath her feet as it glided across the water. She looked up from her feet at the shore as it drifted away again. She wandered if perhaps they should have gotten off; after all she had been confined to the cabin most of the time. She rubbed her hand across her belly picturing the life that grew beneath her hand and tried to divide the causes of her constant nausea. She supposed it was a quarter actual morning sickness, a quarter sea sickness (given her current location), but the other half - well that was made up of guilt and punishment for her indiscretion. What would this child look like? She thought. Would he know? What if he found out? The thought made her stomach turn and she thought she may vomit again.

Her eye caught someone standing next to the ship rail, she wasn't alone after all. The woman was holding a cell phone looking down at it like she expected it to perform a magic trick or something and when it didn't she pocketed it and leant back against the rail. Ellen wandered over to her, she hadn't meet many other people on this ship since they had boarded just a few days ago, everyone else seemed to have too much money and when she did try and strike a conversation with another passenger it frequently centered around them and their privileged life, she really had nothing in common with them. This woman looked like she felt a little lonely in her own little world.

"Hi" she said coming to stand next to her.

Scully jumped she hadn't heard anyone approach "hi."

"Sorry I didn't mean to frighten you."

"That's ok; sorry I think I was on another planet." Scully smiled softly at Ellen.

"You won't get any cell coverage once we get out there." Ellen gestured at the expanse of clear Blue Ocean that lay behind them. "I hope it wasn't important?" she pointed to the phone she had put in her pocket.

"Me too." Scully answered honestly gazing across the water as reality sunk in. She had tried the number for 'Rick' again from Mulder's mysterious note. For the first time it had actually rung but no-one had answered, it had eventually just disconnected and she knew it was probably her last opportunity for cell phone coverage, until the next stop. Her worry and longing for Mulder doubled in the pit of her stomach.

Ellen looked a little confused but shook it off, she liked this woman already, and she definitely seemed a little lost. "I'm Ellen" she extended her hand.

"Dana." Scully took it and shook it gently.

"Have you just boarded? I thought we were the last passengers they were going to accept after those people disappeared. We were lucky to get on."

Scully saw an opening with her statement. "Who disappeared?"

"Well of course there are rumors. Some are talking ghosts, some are talking sordid affair." Scully gestured with her eyebrows for her to continue and turned to face her to show she had her full attention. Ellen grew excited that for once someone on this ship wanted to hear what she had to say and for a moment she forgot about the nausea. She lowered her voice feeling mischievous with the information she was about to reveal. "Well, you see last time this ship sailed a man mysteriously disappeared and then his wife hung herself from the roof of their cabin two days later." Scully looked just as mischievous having been given this juicy piece of gossip, so Ellen took her cue and continued. "They were newlyweds on their honeymoon and it turns out the husband was having an affair." She paused for emphasis "with her sister." Scully gasped involuntarily, Ellen nodded in confirmation. "The two that recently disappeared on this cruise, were also honeymooners but from separate marriages. Rumor has it they were found doing the' horizontal mumbo' vertically in the janitors closet."

"Really?"

Ellen nodded again "A few of the other passengers think they have seen the ghost of the woman who hung herself. She is wearing a long white gown and has these angry burns around her neck." Ellen ran her hands down her sides and then put them to her throat to animate her description. They say she is seeking revenge on her two timing husband by taking it out on those who have committed the same crime in their own relationships. Others say they jumped ship and ran away together."

Scully looked at her dumb founded, the ship had barely left the docks and this case seemed as good as solved. "Have you seen the ghost?"

"Well no but you don't want to be alone in the cabin halls at night, there is definitely something creepy going on down there." Ellen replied rubbing her arms as if a chill had run through her.

"I'll keep that in mind" Scully sighed heavily. "So Ellen what about you are you here on your honeymoon as well?"

"Yes my husband Jason and I have only been aboard for five days, and you?"

"Yes my husband John and I got married last weekend."

"Nice. You too should join us in the dining hall for dinner. You seem to be the only normal person I have met since boarding this ship. I swear everyone on board either has a medical or a law degree, or both and the wallet and self-gratification to go with it." She laughed, Scully didn't she shuffled uncomfortably instead. "Oh god, don't tell me you're a lawyer aren't you?" She flushed with embarrassment.

"Doctor."

"Oh my god, I'm so embarrassed. I meant no offense and I suppose your husband is a lawyer?"

"No he is in the military." Scully tried to look reassuring and unoffended.

"Phew" Ellen wiped her brow.

"We'd love to join you in the dining room Ellen." Scully smiled at her, she liked this woman and she was glad she had connected with someone so soon. This ship docked every five days and had three more stops to go. She was hoping this case would be solved within the week and she and Doggett could return to DC at the next port.

XXX

Scully looked around the table at all the couples and sighed, she felt like a walking cliche. The diamond sparkling on her manicured finger, the sequins on her dress caught the dimly lit dining room and the string quartet playing in the background made the wine she was drinking go down a little too easy. Her reverie was shattered when one of the other sequin clad outfits laughed. It was one of those fake laughs that fancy people use to look fancier. It was Patsy an English housewife who was here with her very wealthy husband on their first wedding anniversary; he had brought her a bigger diamond to go around her neck this time.

"We met at a children's charity ball." She was telling the table. There were a total of four couples at their table and thankfully one of them was Jason and Ellen. Scully and Doggett, Jason and Ellen were yet to get a word in. At this stage Scully didn't mind the wine was expensive and it was on the bureau. "I lost my heel, just like Cinderella and he found it. He literally knelt down and placed it on my foot."

Scully was mid sip and almost chocked on her mouthful, the result was an awful snorting noise and she had to spit the wine back into the glass before it was accidently inhaled. Unfortunately this drew the attention of the entire table to her. "Sorry" she apologized under her breath cursing herself for standing out, they were supposed to be 'fitting in.'

"Well how did you and John meet Dana?" Patsy asked sipping from her own wine smugly and snaring slightly at them.

Scully was caught off guard; she mentally started to flick through her unconscious filing cabinet for the file on how Dana and John Smith meet - was that under 'm' for meeting or 'g' for 'god help me I have to get out of here'. Instead her wine fuelled brain registered to her rubber too bright red lips "ummmm."

Doggett covered her hand with his and for the first time she didn't flinch nervously or pull away. He smiled charmingly at the woman at the table. "Dana tried to kill me." There was a slight collective gasp from the table and Scully looked at him suddenly very confused, that wasn't what their file had said, she couldn't remember either but that didn't sound right. He reassured her with another friendly smile then re addressed the shocked party waiting on batted breath for him to continue. He laughed "actually she hit me with her car."

Suddenly it all came flooding back. "Yes, I was on call, I had a patient having an acute coronary and was on my way to the hospital when John here pulled right out in front of me." She relaxed a bit and gestured a T-bone accident with her hands.

"Actually darling you ran a red light." He cocked his head and spoke loudly under his breath pretending that was meant only for her ears but made it loud enough for the rest of the table to hear.

"Actually my dear it was orange, you anticipated your green light and assumed you had right of way." She mirrored his head tilt and met his eyes. The wine had given her just enough confidence to make this a little easier.

He removed his hand from on top of hers. "Anyway we were unscathed but her car wasn't so lucky so I gave her a lift to the hospital."

"I could never resist a man in uniform" She winked at Patsy and the whole table joined together for a forced 'fancy person' laugh. Scully turned to Doggett and he winked at her. Phew they had pulled that off. "How about you Jason how did you and Ellen meet." Scully diverted the table's attention to her new friends instead and began eating her tiny salad entree.

"Well" Jason put down his fork and looked adoringly at Ellen. "We used to work together actually." Ellen looked back at him, narrowing her eyes warning him to give them the watered down version. "Ellen is a teacher but decided to take a break from teaching and came to be a chef for a while. We worked together on a menu for a new chain of hotels in Vegas."

"It was a big assignment they sent me so he didn't fuck it up." Ellen said then ducked her eyes slightly embarrassed when she realized her slip of the tongue in front of her present audience.

"Ellen likes to go by the book, so to speak." Jason added

"And Jason couldn't follow a conventional recipe if he tried let alone create one. It was his menu, I was sent to rein him in a bit." She laughed as the memories played out with her words.

"Needless to say she drove me crazy, contradicted everything I said. I can't tell you the amount of times we nearly set fire to the kitchen." Jason kissed Ellen's hand. They looked so adoringly at each other it dragged the attention of the entire table. Scully realized she had stopped eating, this was sounding a little too close to home.

"I think I secretly loved him from the moment he tried to convince me that anchovies go with feta cheese." She locked eyes with her husband; their noses were mere inches apart.

"I may as well have been trying to convince her that there really was life on mars." They laughed together.

There was a loud 'chink' as Scully's fork hit her plate and they looked over at her. Scully cleared her throat "Sorry." The moment became lost Ellen and Jason disconnected their eyes and hands and started on their meals again. The rest of the table followed suite, but Scully had to know more. She cleared her throat nervously again and pretended to be interested in her food. "So how did you get where you are now then?"

"Pardon me?" Jason looked over at her a little confused at what she meant.

"Well, I mean when did she stop driving you crazy?"

"Oh she still drives me crazy." That earned him a playful smack on the arm from Ellen. The table fell quiet for a moment as everyone started on their meal again. Jason sat in thought then looked up at Scully. "I guess I felt the same from the beginning. I was just too stubborn, it was more important for me to be right, to get the job done. Then one day I realized what I really wanted was right there all along, starring me in the face." He smiled at Scully then back at Ellen. Scully went back to concentrating on her cherry tomatoes; he had said exactly what she wanted to hear.

Mulder sat at the bar just close enough to catch the conversation of the table but far enough away that it wasn't obvious he was eavesdropping. Doggett was touching her again so he took the opportunity to look at his surroundings instead. He looked around the room at each passenger in turn. He noted the positions of the band, the staff and those who were swaying together on the dance floor. He casually sipped on his drink as he plotted their moves tried to memorize their cabin numbers, routines. He needed to know it all. He looked over at the position of the cameras, he knew where each one was and how to avoid them if need be. His contacts were irritating his eyes and he blinked a few times trying to ease the discomfort. Caught up in his own vigilance he was caught off guard when someone brushed passed his elbow. Shit! His shoulders tensed when he realized it was Scully.

"Excuse me." She spoke politely "I'm sorry I didn't mean to knock you."

He gave her a closed lip smile trying to avoid her gaze, why was she staring at him anyway, did she recognize him? He took a chance and looked back in her direction; she was still looking at him intensely so he looked back down at the ice dancing in his glass.

"Can I help you Mam?" luckily the bar tender broke the silence.

"Yes can I please have another moet for the table?"

"Certainly mam I'll bring it right over."

He could feel her looking at him again so he decided to chance a conversation; he'd been practicing his fake accent all day it was time to try it out. "Ciao bella signora" he greeted her with a thick Italian accent.

Scully was taken back, she was sure she knew his face but couldn't place where from. Her Italian was limited but she knew he had just addressed her as a 'beautiful lady.' "Hello" she finally answered "you're Italian?"

"Yes" he replied in English.

"I'm sorry for a moment there I thought we had met before." She was blushing, since when did she blush? She cursed herself.

Feeling pleased with himself for pulling off this disguise he pulled out the charm and tried to be seductive. "I'm sure I would remember a face like yours." The accent rolled off his tongue like golden treacle and he watched the tiny hairs on the back of her neck rise in response to the sound and smiled.

"I'm sorry, excuse me." She replied. He gestured with his hand towards her table as if he meant to escort her. She followed the direction of his palm returning to her seat. She could feel him watching her so she placed a possessive hand on Johns shoulder, trying to illustrate her unavailability. He turned in his seat back to the bar and looked back up at the surveillance camera sitting above his head. He would need to review the footage later.

Scully faked a headache to get out of the dancing section of the evening and excused herself from the group to retire to the cabin. Doggett stayed a little longer, listening to the conversation trying to gain some insight into recent happenings aboard the ship. Ellen and Jason too retired early, Ellen had been looking a little tired and pale, so while he was disappointed to lose their company at the table he understood. When the third golf related story began at the table he politely excused himself and made his way to the cabin. He hesitated at the door, what was the protocol in this situation? He knocked with his knuckle next to the gold numbers nailed to the cabin door. "Dana?" He called.

"It's safe to come in John." She called back.

He opened the door and entered loosening his bow tie and unbuttoning his collar. She was sitting up in bed reading his case notes again. Her hair was loosely pulled back, makeup removed, pajamas on and a pair of glasses sat on the end of her nose. He stole his eyes away quickly when he realized he was staring. "I think I'll hit the shower and head in for the night." He pointed in the direction of the bathroom with his bow tie still in his hand. She didn't acknowledge what he had said and the crease between her eyes hinted that she was more interested in her reading material than anything that he wanted to do. So he slipped into the bathroom unnoticed.

When he emerged from the shower her lamp was off and she had tucked herself under the covers, lying on her side with her back to him. There was a pillow and blanket folded on the couch and she had left a small light on next to it so he could make his way over. He tiptoed quietly wondering if she had fallen asleep already, wondering if her silence was because she was still worried about their close courters or if she was just majorly pissed at him. He tucked himself under the blankets and settled his head on the pillow. The couch was surprisingly comfy just a few inches too small; he rolled to his left, then to his right. No, still not enough room, he settled onto his back with his feet dangling off the end and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Problem John?" A muffled female voice came from the direction of the jumbo king sized feather down, honeymoon boudoir.

"No, I'm happy as a clam." No pun intended he thought. "I'm sorry did I wake you?"

"No, I wasn't asleep." That long silence they were getting so good at followed again.

A few minutes had passed and she hadn't spoken again so he tentatively shut his eyes. A long sigh came from the bed and a big shuffle as she too shifted to her back. He reopened his eyes "Problem Dana?" He mimicked her earlier question.

"What the hell am I doing here Doggett?"

'And there it is' he thought, she is pissed. He had almost grown tired of this argument so he chose not to answer her.

"I didn't get a medical degree and survive the F.B.I academy to be someone's arm candy. You won't tell me about the agent on board. I'm not allowed to speak to the detective working this case and so far your case report doesn't support any of the F.B.I's current theories on this case."

He rolled his eyes in the darkness and kept his mouth closed.

"Don't roll your eyes."

He snapped his head in her general direction, how on earth had she seen that.

"Did you even know these people were having an affair? Did you check whether they slipped passed the ships security and got off at one of the scheduled stops?"

"I think we should take turns sleeping in the bed." He answered.

"What!?"

"This couch is too small for me. You are smaller than me; I think you should take the couch sometimes, especially if we are going to be here for a few weeks." She didn't answer him but he could almost hear the blood crashing against the walls of her blood vessels as it rushed through her body. She was pissed! "Look Scully, you are making this feel like I somehow set this up so we would be stuck playing house together, like I'm getting some kind of cheap thrill here. I was given this assignment just like you were. I'm following orders just like you are." He paused in his rant waiting for a response. He didn't get one. "Of course we checked if they got off or not. We have run a full inventory on all current passengers. All accept the two missing have been accounted for. Did I know they were having an affair? No. But thank you for informing me, I'll be sure to pass that piece of information onto Agent Rick, he is the agent in charge on board."

"Sorry Agent who?" Scully sat up right and turned to the direction of the couch. Her eyes had adjusted to the dim light and she could make out his profile in the dark. He did look uncomfortable.

"Rick, why do you know him?" Doggett answered curiously.

"No I don't think so." Scully remembered the note Mulder had left her. 'Rick' with the cell number. It couldn't off been a coincidence. Maybe this agent knew where Mulder was, or how to contact him. She didn't know how much Doggett knew but she knew she had to maintain the peace with him if she was to get to this agent. "I'm sorry John; I guess I haven't been the easiest of people to get along with."

"You're worried about your partner aren't you?"

"What do you know about Mulder?" She was surprised he had willingly brought up the subject.

"Only what I know from others in the bureau. I've never met the guy but his reputation precedes him. In all honesty I don't know why he isn't the one trying to squeeze onto this couch."

Scully smirked in the darkness picturing how different the 'sleeping' arrangements would be if Mulder was here. "Well if you have heard the stories you know he has a certain knack at getting in over his head. They rarely separate us on assignments; I'm just wandering is all." She started to pick at the imaginary fluff on her bed spread, trying to sound like her reasons to worry were purely professional.

"Well I don't know where he is if you are asking. In fact I'm starting to regret bringing this case to your office."

That caught her attention "what do you mean?"

"Once it landed on Skinners desk it was taken right out of my hands. I get the impression they know more than they are telling us. I don't know; just know that I share the same frustrations as you do."

"Is there any way I can talk to the agent on board?"

"I'll call him tomorrow. He has a satellite phone so I am able to make contact with him. I can ask him for you, I don't know if he knows anything Scully."

"Thanks if you could ask I would appreciate it." Quiet filled the cabin again. When she closed her eyes tentatively to see if sleep was possible she thought she could feel the slight rocking of the boat underneath her. She inhaled and exhaled loudly into the darkness. "I don't think I'm going to fall asleep yet. You take the bed; I'm going for a walk."

"Dana I didn't really mean it the couch is fine honestly." He felt guilty for his outburst now.

"No, no you are right it makes more sense for me to take the couch. That big bed feels lonely anyway." She threw her sweat pants and a random large sweater from her suitcase over her Pajamas and walked out of the cabin door.

The hum of the ships engine and soft claps of the ocean was still more silence in Scully's ears than she was used to living in the city. She inhaled the warm, sea air; it reminded her of home and of a simpler life one she often craved. Sometimes she just wanted the ability to turn back time, make some different decisions. Then she audible huffed who was she kidding? All paths lead to this place or one similar to it anyway. She walked over to the railing lost in her own thoughts she didn't see him sitting on a park bench style chair, alone and contemplating exactly the same things as her.

Mulder watched her rest against the rail looking out over the vast space of water (and noted) wearing his sweater. He wondered where that had got too. He smiled at the irony, their truth, that on this ship that is the size of a small city and housing 2000 people they would end up at the same place, at the same time, in the same moment of deep life changing thought. It only proved his own point - all decisions, all compasses lead to Scully. He exhaled loudly through his nose and startled her. She turned to face him.

"Sorry I didn't see you sitting there." She looked at him but didn't really see him.

"No problem." The Italian accent was getting easier. "The view just got better bella."

"It's you, from the bar?"

He nodded in greeting and shuffled to the edge of the seat inviting her to sit. She looked at the empty space next to him and then turned back towards the water. A warm breeze caught her hair and blew a few strands over her face. She cleared them away with her fingers feeling him watching her, his gaze like a heavy blanket. She briefly met his eyes while brushing away more strands of hair that caught in her mouth then looked away again. He was making her uncomfortable, but in a confusingly alluring way.

"Couldn't Sleep either Mrs..?"

"Smith, ah Dana."

"Dana." He smiled at her saying her first name. It wasn't used often between them and when it was it was hardly ever under the best of circumstances. Usually when he had to call her mother and he often didn't have to call her mother with good news.

"Rico" He offered his hand.

"Rico" She repeated copying the strong Italian accent and shook his hand like a lady instead of her usual firm, F.B.I, 'I have a gun on my hip' hand shake. "No, I guess I'm not used to such a peaceful environment. I can't sleep through all this silence and clean air." She smiled and quietly wondered how she had slipped so easily into a conversation with this stranger.

"I didn't think honeymooners were supposed to sleep?" He was having fun, starting a casual flirty banter with her. It was like meeting her for the first time all over again.

She laughed coyly, blushing slightly. "Well…"she replied not committing to an explanation and again shocked at the level of comfort in this conversation. She bit her lower lip fearing she may reveal too much if this continued. She looked down at the empty seat next to him. Stuff it they were supposed to be "mingling" with the passengers, so she sat next to him. She crossed her legs and sandwiched her hands between her knees. The rock on her ring finger dug into her thigh a sharp reminder of what she was doing there. "What about you?" She looked over at him. "Do you have a blushing Italian bride waiting for you in your cabin?"

He didn't look over to her "No." He matched her unwillingness to elaborate. He realized he had forgotten to put his contacts in so awkwardly avoided looking at her anymore, but eager to continue with the conversation.

"No" she repeated then followed his eyes over the water again. A long comfortable silence followed as the warm sea air blew over their faces, two Supposed strangers enjoying a moment alone - together.

The night was warm, the ship moved over the water creating a peaceful lullaby and she smelled nice, caught up in the moment he forgot himself and placed a lazy arm behind her shoulders. He surprised her and she stood suddenly. "Ah excuse me; I should be getting back to my husband."

He nodded his head "Addio bella signora."


	4. Chapter Four

The days slipped by easily. No-one else had gone missing, the pair missing hadn't returned. The agent on board had no information to give her about Mulder and he refused to speak with her on the matter. He had told Doggett there was little point in them meeting feeling that it would only risk compromising their assignment.

There had been no further sightings of the ghost and talk of such things had died right down. Scully was starting to relax into this assignment, deciding to sit back and enjoy herself. She couldn't do anything anyway, there was no new information or evidence and even if there was she was unable to do any formal investigation. With this in mind she was hoping they would be brought off this assignment when the ship was due to dock at the next port in two days' time.

She hadn't seen the Italian stranger since their meeting that night and he had started to slip her mind. Her thoughts always fell back to Mulder and where he may be. She did the only thing she felt she could do and that was pray that he was ok. She and Doggett had found a mutual comfort in their relationship. She had even let him dance with her after dinner the night before. She picked a song that had a bit of pace to it so a close slow dance was not expected by the crowd. He placed one hand between her shoulder blades and held the other firmly. Their cheeks rested together but the rest of their bodies stayed a respectable distance apart. They ate dinner with Ellen and Jason each night and had easily become close friends. Scully and Doggett often veered the conversation in their direction, avoiding talking about their relationship and personal lives to avoid revealing their true identities.

The afternoon was hot, the sun was intense so Scully and Ellen had donned a bikini and picked a shady umbrella to lie under beside the pool. The bar staff brought them a steady stream of drinks, Ellen was drinking tropical non-alcoholic cocktails and well Scully, assuming it was her last few days aboard decided to indulge herself and order the alcoholic kind.

Their loungers were arranged in a v shape under the umbrella, there freshly painted toes meet at the base of the V. Their Bikinis were a similar design Scully's was Navy, Ellen's was red. A couple of young men walked passed their feet for the third time in the past twenty minutes and one of them finally got brave enough to say "Hi" very shyly.

"Well hello" Ellen had dipped her sunglasses with a single finger and winked seductively. Both young men blushed and walked away a little faster than they intended and looking very embarrassed. As soon as the men were out of ear shot both women burst into a fit of laughter.

"What would your husband say miss, flirting with younger men?" Scully asked lowering her own glasses and looking over at Ellen.

"Come on Dana you can't tell me you aren't enjoying the attention."

Scully pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and lay her head back against her lounger.

"Well Dana speaking of attention, I seriously doubt your husband would approve of the attention that guy at the bar is giving you."

"Where?" Scully lowered her glasses again and looked in the direction of the bar.

"Over there on the end, the dark guy with the beard and sunglasses."

Scully found who she meant and recognised him instantly; it was the Italian, what was his name? 'Rico'. She flicked her glasses back against her lashes and rubbed her shoulders into the back of her chair pressing her chest out slightly "argh, let him look." They both giggled again.

"Now who's being a flirt?"

Scully's eyebrows appeared above her sunglasses at her and they giggled again. Ellen placed a hand unconsciously on her flat abdomen.

"When are you due?"

"What"!?

Scully's head lulled in Ellen's direction. "When is your baby due?"

"Oh god, Dana am I showing already?"

"No relax, not at all, I'm Sorry Ellen, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I'm a Doctor remember I notice these things. The nausea, paleness, tiredness, non-alcoholic drinks and you keep placing your hand over your belly- all expecting mothers do that without even realising it."

"Oh… It's just we haven't really told anyone yet. I'm only a couple of months along."

Scully nodded "congratulations."

"Thanks, what about you? Do you think you'll have kids soon?"

Scully's posture visibly tensed "ah no. I'm not able to have children." That little section in their personal file was painfully accurate.

"I'm sorry Dana"

"s'ok" There was a long pause in the conversation and the smiles and giggles died right down between them.

"Dana. Seeing as you brought it up, can I ask you a medical question?"

Scully drained the rest of her cocktail and gestured to the bartender for another suddenly feeling the need to medicate herself. "Shoot."

"Is there a way you can find out who the father is before the baby is born?"

Scully's head snapped in her new friend's direction. Ellen's eyes were looking at her fidgeting hands that lay in her lap. "What are you saying Ellen?"

"It may not be Jason's baby Dana." She replied with a quiver on her lip.

"Ellen..." Scully started.

"It was just one night, one little, drunken slip Dana, just before I got married. It was another chef we had been working together one night and well there was always this thing between us, he was crazy good looking and we constantly flirted. We had a few drinks in the restaurant after it had closed and when he made his move I suddenly realised. This is it, my last opportunity to be with someone other than Jason for the rest of my life."

Scully's lower jaw was on her chest and she had risen to sit on the edge of her lounger.

Ellen briefly lifted her eyes from her hands to meet Scully's stare. "I know, I know, I'm a terrible person and I don't do that, I have never slept around. But I guess that was another reason I did it. I felt like I needed to be rebellious, just once in my life, be somebody else, and do something no-one would ever expect of me. My last chance before I did the most sensible thing ever – marry the man I love. And I do love him; he's everything to me and the kindest man I've ever known."

Scully still couldn't find the words to respond but she closed her mouth and relaxed allowing Ellen to carry on.

"The alcohol blurred things a little and I forgot I had stopped taking my pill. I haven't needed contraception for so long it just slipped my mind and well there wasn't much thought required during…"

Scully arched a single brow.

"Dana it was really . . . hot and …raw, bordering on rough. God I've never done anything like that before. Right up against the wall, my skirt was bunched around my waist; His pants were still around his ankles…"

"Ok, Ok" Scully put her hands up in surrender "too much information, I get the picture."

"It was good Dana! But that goodness wore off as soon as it was over. He zipped his fly grabbed his things and then kissed me goodbye. I was left there standing against that wall, panties nowhere to be found and guilty as hell." She pouted and lowered her head in disgust. "Why do you think I left my job as a chef and went back to teaching?" She let out a long exhausted, shaky breath. "I found out I was pregnant two weeks after the wedding I told Jason we must have conceived on our honey moon night but when I mentally did the math my period was due on my honeymoon night. Oh god I really am a horrible person."

Scully finally found her voice "we all make mistakes." She placed a hand on Ellen's and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Ellen sat to face her and threw her arms around Scully's neck. "It feels so good to be able to tell someone."

"Hey, now you are really giving the boys something to look at."

Ellen laughed through tears and ended their little embrace. The waiter walked up to them and cleared his throat. He had their drinks on a tray.

"Thanks just put them down there." Scully gestured at the waiter to put the drinks on their shared table. He complied and left quickly.

"Weddings can be stressful, stressful enough to make you skip a period. Jason may still be the father. But there is a real possibility he isn't."

"I know" Ellen sniffed.

"I can't tell you whether or not you should tell him Ellen, that decision belongs to you. But there are other things to consider."

Ellen looked up at Scully.

"You need to get yourself checked out for sexually transmitted infections especially if you are pregnant. A serious STI can affect the baby if left untreated."

"Oh god, I didn't even think of that." A fresh batch of tears swelled in her eyes.

"There is a medical team on board. You should make an appointment you will just need a blood test and a few swabs taken. I'll come with you if you want me to."

Ellen bit her lower lip and nodded "thank you, I'd ah, really appreciate that." She blinked and the tears streamed down her face.

Scully hugged her again. "You're ok" she reassured her.

When the hug ended Ellen lay back against her lounger. "God I could really do with a drink, a real drink."

"Don't mind if I do." Scully lay back down too collecting her cocktail as she did and began taking large sips from her straw. They both giggled again. The crying had stopped and they both relaxed into the warm sun.

After a little while when the glasses were empty again Ellen turned to Scully. "So Mrs Smith, What's your dirty little secret?"

"Pardon?" Scully was genuinely surprised at the question.

"Come on Dana, You may be a Doctor but I am a woman with female instincts and you and your husband are a sketchy pair. You're hiding something."

It was Scully's turn to look at her fidgeting hands.

"Come on Dana I told you a dirty secret, spill."

Scully had to think quick, denying anything was going on would only make Ellen push further. "Well.." She started her brain ticked over quickly trying to come up with a cover story. This situation hadn't been covered in the file outlining their marriage story and even though she knew her and Doggett had become more comfortable in their charade they still weren't the cliche honeymooners, everyone else on board was.

"You two act more like brother and sister than husband and wife." Ellen continued to press her.

"John's a military man, it isn't appropriate to be affectionate in public." She tried.

"Right, that's his story. What's yours?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well he may not be overly affectionate but I've seen the way he looks at you Dana, he's smitten."

Scully choose the wrong moment to sip from her new drink just handed to her by the waiter and choked on the bright red liquid. She coughed and tried to catch her breath.

"God Dana, here." Ellen passed her a napkin. Scully took it and continued to attempt to clear her airway into it. "Are you ok?"

Scully nodded as she stopped coughing. She had no answer to that. None at all! And she really hoped her little choking episode would stop Ellen asking questions. It didn't.

"Come on Dana, spill it. I have to have some moral leverage now you know my secret."

Scully looked at her out of the corner of her eye as she wiped the spilled cocktail off her chest. "I think I need a dip in the pool."

"Uh uh, no way, there is something, I knew it." She tapped Scully's knee. "Tell me, I won't tell anyone. Come on - Doctor/patient confidentiality."

"Ah, but I'm the Doctor and technically you are not my patient."

Ellen looked unimpressed. "Spill it!"

Scully exhaled, she had thought of a twisted version of the truth to feed her. "Well…."

"Yes?..."

"Well"

"You said that already.."

"Give a girl a chance."

"Sorry." Ellen put her fingers to her lips like a key and pretended to lock her mouth shut.

"Well. Let's just say not all of us are lucky enough to marry the man we are in love with."

Ellen's eyes widened, her mouth opened slowly till she was gapping, then she snapped it shut again.

"There is someone else, someone I have worked closely with for years. He um, he and I have been, well, more than friends for a little while now. But our circumstances mean we could never be together in an official capacity. John came along and well he was nice enough. My father would have approved of him."

"Nice enough, shit Dana that's a depressing story."

"Well not completely depressing." She replied coyly.

Ellen caught her implication "oh so you never broke it off with Mr no official capacity? Tell me does he pin you to the wall Dana?"

The alcohol had loosened her mind and her lips and talking about Mulder was making her tingle pleasantly. "Let's just say his office has a really big wooden desk, that's surprisingly...sturdy." Looking incredibly innocent she sipped at her straw again.

The sound of a glass hitting the ship deck and shattering came from the direction of the bar catching the attention of both women. It was the Italian guy at the bar he had just dropped his glass and was apologising profusely to the waiter cleaning it up for him. He looked flustered and embarrassed. Scully shrugged her shoulder and turned down the corners of her mouth, in an 'I don't know' gesture to Ellen.

"Well, well Mrs Straight laced, congeniality is really an adulterous in disguise." She sighed "it's always the quiet ones." They laughed together.

The piece in Mulders ear was set to the bug planted in Scully's umbrella. He had been busy over the last couple of days chasing down their investigation and turning up, well nothing. He decided to give himself a break and go have a drink at the pool bar.

After their little rendezvous a few nights ago he had decided to keep a safe distance between them. He checked on her each night in her cabin tucked up in that big bed alone, while her partner shuffled uncomfortably on the couch. He couldn't believe his eyes when he glanced over and saw her . . . in that . . . bikini. He instantly changed the frequency of the listening device in his ear to the signal of the bug planted in her umbrella. Subconsciously he knew he shouldn't be eaves dropping but he just couldn't help himself he needed to hear her voice. When she started talking about him he really felt like he should stop listening but his fingers just wouldn't lift to his ear no matter how much his brain told them to. When she said she loved him he could no longer feels his fingers and then when she mentioned the desk incident his brain (most likely from a sudden lack of blood), lost the ability to control his whole hand and the glass it was holding slipped to the floor and shattered over the deck into thousands of tiny pieces.

After the very annoyed waiter had cleaned it up he quickly removed the device from his ear and pocketed it.

Scully drained her glass. "Ok that one went down a little quick. I might just take that dip in the pool now." She removed her glasses and in two swift steps dove deep into the welcoming cool water. When she surfaced she could feel someone watching her she looked up at the two young men who had been pacing past them all afternoon they were certainly watching, she huffed to herself. Who were they kidding she thought, they were far too young for her. Just beyond them Rico sat at the bar, now the glass had been cleaned up he had changed seats placing him closer to the end of the pool. His dark sunglasses were covering his eyes but there was no doubt in her mind which direction he was looking.

She swam over to the ladder at the end of the pool and climbed it. The water ran down her slim figure as she exited the pool, her hair was slicked back and she grabbed it with one hand wringing it dry. She noticed he didn't even try to pretend he wasn't looking. She was suspicious of him; he made her curious so she purposely walked towards him, when she reached the bar he turned in his seat so he was sitting directly beside her. She leant across the bar to the waiter "Can I have two sparkling waters please." He nodded and she settled down on the stool next to him. He was blatantly ogling her. "Didn't your mother ever teach you it was rude to stare?" She didn't look at him instead taking the drinks from the waiter and mouthed thank you to him.

"Maybe, but there is no way your Papa would have let you out of the house wearing that bella."

She gave him a soft smile "touche." She swivelled in her chair and walked back towards her lounger and Ellen. She could feel his eyes still planted firmly on her back. When she got back to her chair and settled back down into it. Ellen was looking over at him. "Two men not enough for you Dana?"

"pfft please, like you said before, it's nice to be noticed once in a while." She looked back over at him he smiled then turned back to the bar. A pang hit straight through her heart. "I miss him Ellen. I miss him and I love him and I never told him that."

"Shit Dana I thought my situation was fucked up."

After her long afternoon by the pool Scully had retired to her cabin to read and nap. Doggett was no-where to be found so she took full advantage of her alone time with a good novel. When she woke the clock on her bureau told her dinner had already started in the dining hall. She quickly slipped into an evening gown a long, simple, strapless, black number that gathered under the breasts and then hugged her hips and legs until they covered her toes. The hem whispered along the floor over her four inch heels. She quickly threw her hair up in a diamond clip and a few loose curls fell around her face. She closed her eyes and rubbed foundation into her cheeks, forehead, nose then finished with her chin. When she opened them there was an extra reflection in the mirror. It was a woman with long black hair and striking, emerald, green eyes. She wore a long white night gown and had an angry red abrasion around her neck. Her mouth was moving but there was no sound, the expression on her face indicated she was angry and it made Scully's blood run cold.

"Jesus!" Scully jumped back from the mirror. Terrified, she dropped the bottle of foundation into the sink. It splashed across the basin and then began to spill down the drain. She spun around to face the woman but found herself alone in the small bathroom. Her breath was coming in short bursts her heart was racing in her chest from pure fear. Her flight or fight response kicked in and she prepared to defend herself but looking to her left then to her right then running through to the room she found no-one. She slowly walked back into the bathroom and faced the mirror. The image was gone. She looked over her shoulder again to reassure herself she was in fact alone. She took two slow deep breathes to calm her wrecked nerves and then rescued her foundation from the drain. She picked up her blusher and pursed her lips, sucking in her cheeks she brushed the rouge over each cheek first briskly then slowed down as she tried to rationalize what she had just seen, or not seen.

Her rationale' scientific 'Scully' brain told her it was just her imagination. Fuelled by the stories she had heard and the case file she had now committed to memory. But there was this niggling section to her brain, the X-file segment of grey matter that she could usually suppress when Mulder was around. Probably because when he actually verbalized these thoughts they sounded crazy, incredible. It was easy to dispute his words it was harder to suppress her thoughts.

She flicked her eyelashes with her mascara, covered her lips with cherry red gloss and pierced them together with an audible 'pluck.' She squared her shoulders, took a deep breathe feeling confident that the cocktails and ghost stories were responsible for a brief hallucination. She considered herself in the mirror. She was enjoying pretending to live the high life wearing a different designer gown each evening, bringing out her most feminine features she often hid behind a business suite. But she was looking forward to her sweats and slippers and eating ice cream straight from the tub on her couch.

Most of all she was looking forward to sharing that ice-cream back home, in her bed, with Mulder. She may even let him eat it off her stomach this time. Her stilettos clicked on the bathroom tiles as she walked into the room collecting her earrings and clutch as she passed the bureau and headed for the dining hall, hopefully before the main course was served. She made a mental note to lay off the champagne tonight.

The dining hall was a flurry of noise and lights as usual. Waiters looked like they were dancing around the tables balancing crystal flutes of champagne on top of silver trays. The band played a peaceful melody in the corner and everyone was eating and chatting and laughing. She spotted Doggett at their usual table but Jason and Ellen's seats were empty. When she got close to the table Doggett stood to greet her.

"Dana" he took her hand and leant to kiss her softly on the cheek, brushing the corner of her lips.

"Hi" she said a few octaves higher than she had intended. He had obviously got a little more comfortable than her.

"I haven't seen you all day, where have you been?"

"Ahhh?" she creased her brow at him. Since when did he keep tabs on her whereabouts? She sat at the table and the waiter appeared at her side to lay her napkin over her lap. She leant back into her chair giving him room to place it then nodded to him in thanks and turned back to Doggett. Her arrival had attracted the attention of the rest of the table. She cleared her throat feeling a little subconscious. "I ah, just by the pool, with Ellen." She looked over at Ellen's seat. The rest of the table turned back to their meals unusually satisfied with her answer and the waiter arrived with her meal and placed it in front of her. "Speaking of whom where is Ellen and Jason?"

"Um I'm not sure, I haven't seen them." Doggett went back to slicing through his steak.

"Hmmm." Scully made a start on hers. She had managed just a mouthful when Jason appeared. But he wasn't dressed for dinner and headed straight in her direction.

"Dana" he said sounding nervous.

"Jason, what is it what's wrong?" she dropped her Knife and fork and wiped her mouth with the napkin from her lap leaving a red lip smudge on the clean white fabric.

"It's Ellen, something's wrong can you come, she's asking for you?"

"Sure" she stood and placed her napkin next to her plate.

Doggett stood too "should I come too?"

"No that's ok you finish your meal John. I'll get you if we need you." Scully excused herself from the table, nodding reassuringly to the rest of the bewildered diners. She followed Jason as he hurried out of the dining hall.

When they reached the halls of the cabins he stopped in his tracks, stopping so suddenly Scully almost hit the back of him. "She told you she was pregnant."

"Yes" Scully answered honestly but couldn't meet his sad eyes knowing that he didn't know the whole truth about that.

"She's gone crazy Dana."

"What do you mean? What happened to her Jason?"

Jason ran his hand through his hair. Scully could see the sweat bead across his forehead and his hand shake as it released his hair. "She was dressing for dinner, in the bathroom. I walked in and she was frozen, her hands were gripping the edge of the basin her knuckles almost white with the strain. She was looking at herself in the mirror." He paused for a breath seemingly uncomfortable about what he wanted to tell her.

"It's ok Jason." Scully placed a reassuring hand on his elbow.

"Dana her eyes.." He paused again. Scully could tell he didn't want to complete that sentence. She looked at him intently urging him to carry on. "I swear they changed color. They were green Dana green like I've never seen before."

Scully's blood ran cold picturing the green eyes of the image she saw in her own bathroom mirror. When Jason saw her reaction he was compelled to carry on.

"That's not the weird part, Dana. She picked up her lipstick in her left hand and wrote on the mirror."

"Is she left handed?"

He shook his head 'no.' "Dana she wrote the word 'whore' in capital, hot pink, lipstick letters. Then she fell to the floor. I bent to pick her up and she was freezing to touch, freezing!" He emphasized and mimicked picking up a limp cold woman in his hands.

Scully realized she was breathing quickly. "Ok, its ok. Was she conscious?"

"Yeah she came around really quickly. But she was out of it. I picked her up and put her in bed. She told me to come and get you so that's what I did."

"Ok you did the right thing. Let's go and see her Ok." She tapped his elbow again.

He nodded 'Yes' then turned back to walk down the hallway. Scully gathered her thoughts and her composure and continued to follow him. As they descended deeper into the cabin hall, the air seemed to chill. Scully's bare arms started to goose pimple so she rubbed her hands briskly over them and increased her pace. When they reached the door both Scully and Jason paused. Scully looked behind her and down each length of the hall. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as a chill rushed over her shoulders. She was reminded of the day she met Ellen. She warned her that the hall was 'creepy' and standing there next to Jason she understood what she had meant.

Jason looked at Scully asking her with his expression if she was ready. She nodded 'yes' and he opened the door slowly. The room was dark, just a low yellow glow from a lamp next to the bed emitting enough light for them to see their path through the cabin. "Ellen" Jason called quietly.

"You don't have to whisper Jason I'm fine." Ellen's voice came from under the covers. Scully and Jason made their way to the end of the bed and Ellen pulled the covers from over her face. They were both relieved to see her eyes were the same brown shade they had always been. Scully met her friend's gaze with genuine concern.

Ellen turned from Scully to Jason. "I'm ok honey really I am, just blame it on a weird pregnancy hormone thing." She chuffed. Jason didn't return the humorous gesture. "Can I talk to Dana, privately? She's a Doctor remember she can have a look over me. Right?" she gestured to Scully.

"Of course." She nodded first to Ellen then to Jason. "I'll check her over Jason, why don't you go and let John know we are ok?" She smiled reassuringly at him.

Jason looked first at Scully and then at Ellen. "Are you sure you're ok."

"Yeah I just need to talk girl stuff with Dana, you don't need to hear that. Go, tell John I fainted and Dana is just going to look me over, Ok."

Jason looked at Ellen then at Scully and then back to Ellen again. He thought about going around and kissing her but for some reason he was afraid to. He couldn't bring himself to get any closer than he was. He blew a long breathe out of his nose and then stormed out of the cabin, closing the door firmly behind him.

Both Scully and Ellen watched him leave with forced smiles on their faces. When the door slammed affirmation they were alone both of their faces took on a more serious expression. Scully quickly moved to Ellen's side and Ellen dragged herself out from under the covers sitting up right against the headboard. Before Scully could ask Ellen started rambling. The words rushing out faster than her brain could arrange the full sentences.

"I saw a fucking ghost Dana, a ghost with black hair and green eyes and she had a long white gown. Just like the woman who hung herself. She had a mark around her neck and she was angry Dana, angry! She was yelling at me but there was no voice. Then she came at me, she was in me Dana in my body, in my head, in my thoughts." Tears were starting to flow down her pale cheeks and her voice was shaking.

"Slow down Ellen, slow down. It's ok." Scully sat on the bed and put an arm around her pulling her into her shoulder.

Ellen pushed her away "she knows Dana, she knows I cheated. She called me a whore a cheating, lying whore. She was in my head Dana, my thoughts I couldn't get her out. She's going to take me isn't she, like the others. I'm going to disappear aren't I? I'm going to disappear and never be found again. What about my baby Dana, my baby, is my baby ok? Oh god Jason, he's going to find out he's going to know I am a cheater I'm a horrible person I I…"

"Here, lay down." Scully pushed on Ellen's shoulders lowering her onto the bed then she placed her fingers over the pulse on the inside of her wrist. The rhythm was so fast Scully couldn't count the beats. "I need you to try and calm yourself down Ellen; your heart rate is extremely elevated. Concentrate on your breathing." She breathed in slowly through her nose and then blew it out of her mouth. Ellen soon began to copy her and Scully could feel her pulse begin to slow. "That's right, I'm going to get you some water, keep up those nice deep breaths."

She grabbed the glass that was sitting on the bedside table and wandered into the bathroom still taking slow, controlled breaths encouraging Ellen to continue. When she stepped into the bathroom she saw the hot pink letters written roughly on the mirror. The word 'whore' was written across her chest in her reflection. She took a folded flannel from on top of the vanity and began to smear the oily substance from the mirror frantically. It took more effort than she expected and the final result was a long pink smear that covered her reflected face. She braced herself on the vanity trying to come up with a rational explanation for the events that had occurred that evening and then it dawned on her; she filled the glass with water and headed back into the bedroom. She handed the glass of water to Ellen's out stretched still shaking hand.

"Thank you. I feel a little better." She said taking the glass and sipping on the water.

Scully sat down next to her on the bed. "Ellen did you feel ok when we left the pool this afternoon?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well did you feel sick or dizzy. Not yourself?"

"Umm" Ellen creased her brow trying to recall how she felt. That seemed like an eternity ago. "I felt a little woozy I guess. But the sun, the boat and the pregnancy have been making me woozy at the best of times why?"

"What did you do when you came back to your room?"

"I slept why Dana, what are you thinking?"

"I did too. I had a few cocktails so I was feeling a little light headed but you didn't have any alcohol. I'm wondering if, perhaps our drinks were spiked."

Ellen looked tensely at her "why, what happened to you Dana?"

Scully looked sheepishly at her, it's not her usual stance to share her unusual experiences with someone but her and Ellen had shared a lot in the last twelve hours. "I saw her too Ellen."

"What?!"

"She was in my bathroom mirror too."

"You saw the ghost?"

"I saw something, but I don't believe it was a ghost. If our drinks were tampered with it could have been a hallucination."

"But she was in my head, in my body I could feel her inside me her anger and her pain."

"But you were feeling those emotions too. Drugs can enhance our emotions in powerful ways and this 'ghost' she could have been a hallucination created subconsciously by the stories we have been hearing. She was exactly as you described her to me."

"What about her eyes Dana, they were the brightest green I've ever seen I never told you about that. Did you see her eyes?" To emphasise her point Ellen bore her eyes deep into Scully's.

"Yes." Scully dropped her head, she couldn't explain that, or why Ellen's eyes had changed as Jason had described. Where the hell was Mulder when she needed him? He should be there with her, she silently cursed Skinner and his wisdom to separate them on this, the last week had been a complete waste of time and money. She looked back at Ellen. "I think we should get tested just to be on the safe side. Ok?"

Ellen nodded 'yes.'

"I need to talk to John, you rest ok. I'll talk to John and then I'll talk to the on board physician to arrange those tests."

Ellen nodded again.

XXX

"We are not getting off this ship are we Doggett?" Scully questioned anxiously. They were in their cabin trying to pace the room effectively in their tight quarters.

"No, you and Ellen weren't the only ones who had a visitation last night. Another male passenger claims he saw the woman in his bathroom mirror too, a man named Jackson." he replied. Scully exhaled an exasperated breath, hands on her hips she paused her pacing.

"Did he experience the auditory hallucinations like Ellen or just the visual like me?"

"Just the visual."

"Did he lose consciousness or exhibit any other unusual behaviours, change of physical characteristics?"

"No but he did report as you did the ghost appeared angry, yelling at him inaudibly. I have requested the on board physicians draw his blood and send it to Washington with your samples. The preliminary report is normal as yours was."

"Has anyone done a background on our 'ghost?'"

"Yeah, here I printed off the background check for you." He handed her two pieces of paper stapled at the corner. She skimmed through it having read probably thousands of background checks in her career she knew which were the important sections. It all seemed pretty unremarkable. Her name was Alexandra Jacobs. She was a 26 year old student, no medical or psychiatric history. No criminal record. She was married to Jonathon Jacobs a 30 year old soldier, who had an impeccable military history and more medals than most soldiers his age.

"This doesn't mention anything about the affair". She shook the piece of paper at him un-impressed by what little help it was.

"Well it turns out her sister Miss Adrienne Mathews was also a soldier." He handed her a colour photograph of three smiling people all with their arms around each other. There was a man and a woman in a military issued uniform and one small attractive woman in civilian clothing. Scully squinted at the woman out of uniform trying to see if she recognised her as the image she had seen in the mirror. She supposed it could have been, same hair colour, same build but her eyes had been reddened by the flash of the camera so she was unable to see if they were the striking emerald she had seen that night.

"Adrienne and Jonathon did two tours of the middle east together. Adrienne was also injured badly in an air raid and Jonathon got a medal of bravery for saving her life." John told his tale enthusiastically trying desperately to impress Scully at least once in this investigation. "It's quite the tale Dana, could have been taken straight off the pages of a romance novel. You see Adrienne and Jonathon met at basic training, he always loved her but she could never return the feelings. Besides relationships amongst soldiers is still shun upon during active duty. Anyway they were friends for years to the point where they met up while on leave, which…"

"Is where he met her sister?" Scully was gaining a pretty good picture of the situation.

"Bingo." He pointed a finger and thumb at her. "It wasn't until after Alexandra and Jonathon were engaged that Adrienne's true feelings surfaced and well yadda yadda yadda. You get the picture."

She nodded. "I really need to make contact with AD Skinner; I think Agent Mulders expertise would be invaluable to this case."

"I have spoken to AD Skinner he told me to tell you Agent Mulder will be in contact when we dock tomorrow."

"What about the agent on board, what does he have to say about all of this?"

"Ha" Doggett huffed.

"What?"

"I think he has been through your x-files cabinet." Scully raised a brow at him. "He's talking 'spirit possession.'"

If it was possible Scully's brow actually lifted higher in response. "Did you tell him about Ellen's blood test results? About my theory on our drinks being spiked?"

"I did, he reiterated the fact that there was no trace of drugs in either of your systems. He said your tests were normal and that the altered biochemistry in Ellen's results supports his theory of spirit possession. A decrease in sodium and increase in potassium is reflective of a spirit's intolerance to salt."

Scully realised her mouth was open "did you tell him it is also reflective of drug use, not to mention hyperemesis in pregnancy and that not all drugs can be detected in a blood test especially with the limited lab facilities on board this ship."

Doggett nodded as she spoke, indicating he had tried his best to argue her point. "I feel like I'm arguing with Mulder here." Scully retorted under her breathe. "Was there anything useful on the surveillance tape?"

Doggett shook his head "No. The tape corroborates Jason's description Ellen's eyes changed colour, she wrote the image with her left hand and then fainted. There was no image of a woman on your tape or the other male passenger's."

"Did you tell him my theory on the altered colour of the iris'?"

"That whatever drug you were given had the ability to alter parts of your DNA helix?"

Scully nodded eagerly.

"I did, he is confident that if we look up the eye colour of Alexandra Jacobs we will find it matches the description of Ellen's altered eye colour reported by Jason. He said that in other documented accounts of spirit possession there are consistent reports of those possessed by spirits taking on the characteristics of those they are possessed by."

"Who is this guy?" Scully retorted.

"Rick, I don't know his background. You don't have to tell me Scully, I agree with you 100% I think this agent is the one wacked out on drugs."

"I need to talk to him; this Chinese whispers routine is getting old."

"That's not an option." John shook his head.

Scully lifted her chin increasing her height and line of sight by an inch. "Make it an option!"


	5. Chapter Five

Scully watched from the deck of the ship crew members removing and reloading cargo from the ship. Stocking up on supplies, getting rid of the waste and rubbish. Only authorised personal were allowed on and off the ship. There was a woman standing with an authoritive looking clipboard monitoring those crossing the bridge that linked the boat to the land. Scully assumed this was the on board investigator 'Detective Wilkes', she was hoping Agent Rick would be with her so she could catch a glimpse of him, but no luck she was alone and by the looks of things taking her role very seriously.

There were other crew members patrolling the dock and perimeter of the ship Scully assumed ensuring no-one got off or on. She looked at the men patrolling her area trying to see if one of them could be an FBI agent posing as a crew member. Her cell phone sat heavily in her hand, the battery and service bars were full, she had tried Mulders number twice now with no success. She tried Skinner and the number Mulder had given her for Rick as well but either everyone was ignoring her calls or they had found something more important to do that Sunday morning – nice for them. She was so engrossed in her vigilance she didn't see Ellen approach her.

"Hi Dana"

"God, Ellen you frightened me, what are you doing up out of bed?" Scully said with a little more anger than she had intended.

"I can't sit in there anymore Dana I feel ill. I keep waiting for that ghost woman to come back."

"I told you there was no ghost."

"There were no drugs in our system either Dana." Now Ellen sounded angry.

"I have sent our blood tests to a medical lab in Washington; their facilities are much more high tech than those available on board. I am confident we will get some different results." Her voice trailed off as she saw over Ellen's shoulder a man approach Detective Wilkes at the bridge. His back was turned so she couldn't see his face and he was wearing a cap distorting his profile, but it looked like… No it can't be….. "Mulder?" she questioned under her breath and side stepped Ellen she started to move quickly towards the bridge but the man ducked into a door without turning and showing his face.

"Dana?" Ellen called out.

She stopped and turned back. It couldn't have been, she convinced herself. There's just no way it could've been. She walked back towards Ellen.

"Who's Mulder?"

"Huh?" Scully stood in front of her friend again.

"You said Mulder, who's Mulder?"

"Ah no one I thought I saw someone, I was mistaken."

"Are you alright?"

"Fine." Her voice was unintentionally high pitched.

"Are you sure? I came by your cabin last night and I heard you and John fighting. I hope I haven't caused any conflict between you two."

"No I'm fine, he's fine, we're fine. Honestly."

"You say fine a lot."

Scully huffed a laugh. Her phone started to vibrate and ring loudly in her hand. So distracted she had almost forgotten about it. Mulders number flashed across the screen. "This is a really important call Ellen I'm sorry, can I talk to you later?"

"Sure, I'll see you at the ball tonight right? I think that's just what we all need a nice night of good food; good wine and slow dancing with our husbands. Then a chance to remind them we are on our honeymoon." She winked.

Scully winced as she smiled in response and then walked away; yeah that's just what she needed – needed like a hole in the head! She hit talk and pulled the phone to her ear "Mulder."

'Scully, yeah it's m…' He replied through a very bad line.

"Where are you?" Only silence filled the end of the line. "Mulder are you there, can you hear me? She plugged her other ear with her finger.

'Yeah S_. I ca _ hear y_ fine. It _ bad li_'

Fabulous of course they had a bad line. Is anything going to go right on this case? From the bits and pieces she could make out he could apparently hear her better than she could hear him so she decided to launch into her speech she had subconsciously been practicing since this morning. She looked around making sure she was relatively alone and away from flapping ears. "I'm on a cruise liner undercover Mulder. We are investigating a missing person's case but not having much success. There have been claims of apparitions but I think we may be dealing with drug induced hallucinations. I'm having trouble proving it with the limited facilities on board and I'm limited in my investigation angles in this undercover role. The evidence is strange Mulder, I won't dispute that, this is definitely an X-File I could really use your expertise here. Where are you anyway?

"I'm _ _ know about _ case_ _ Doggett _ me. Ag_ Rick _. Can' Skinner. I want to see you…"

She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration; she couldn't make sense of anything but the last line. "I want to see you too." She replied realising in that moment this was the longest they had been apart since they had taken this giant step in their relationship. Which meant it was the longest gap between nights spent tangled together as well and her soul and body physically ached for his. "When will I see you?"

"Soo_ _ may th_. This investigation _ _tant.X _ _ Position _compromised. I'm safe_ _ stay _of trou_.just a prof_..." Static filled the line.

"Mulder, are you still there? Can you hear me? Mulder? Mul" argh it was no use the line was dead. She slammed the phone closed in protest. The bridge started to close and the boats engines kicked up a gear as it prepared to leave the dock. She redialled Skinners and Rick's number again as the service bars began to disappear on the face of the cell phone. Both went unanswered again and the temptation to throw the phone overboard almost became too hard to ignore but she found enough restraint to pocket it, after all she had a ball to prepare for, she was either looking for a ghost or a 'perp' with a prescription pad and she was hoping one of them would turn up again tonight.

When the service bars ran down to none on her phone she made her way down to the cabins. As she walked through the hall that unsettling chill ran down her spine again and she stopped mid stride to turn around and inspect the empty hall behind her. There was an unpleasant feeling of a heavy gaze on her back and she physically shuddered. The halls were definitely not somewhere you wanted to be alone at night. Jason came out of one of the cabins breaking the uneasy chill in the air.

"Dana, Hi."

"Hi Jason, you look great." She complimented looking him up and down. He was wearing a sharp black tux complete with cummerbund and bow tie. She noticed he had taken extra care styling his hair with some oily gel like substance and smelled of some manly aftershave that tingled her olfactory senses pleasantly.

"Thanks are you guys coming tonight?"

"Um yeah," she tried to sound excited. "I'm just heading off to get dressed.

"Great, save a dance for me won't you Dana?"

"Sure." She gave him her best 'sweet' smile. Jason turned to walk passed her "Jason." She called him back. "How do you think Ellen is?"

"Much better, thanks. We had a long talk last night. She cried a little, got a few things off her chest I think we were both just so relieved that the tests indicated that the baby was ok."

"Good, that's great. Well I better go and ah." She tugged on her blouse indicating she needed to go and change. "I'll see you there."

When she reached her door she knocked softly.

"Come in Dana" Johns voice came from the other side of the door.

She stepped in and then almost fell back on her feet when she looked up to find him standing in nothing but a towel in front of the bathroom door. A steady stream of steam surrounded him and again pleasant manly smells filled their small cabin. "Sorry" She averted her eyes.

"S'ok, bathrooms all yours." She cleared her throat and made her way into the bathroom. She started the shower and soon hot steam began to fill the small bathroom again. She flicked on the cold tap in the sink and starred at herself in the mirror as the image became distorted in the steam she leant down and splashed cold water onto her face. When she stood there was a familiar image in the steamed mirrors reflection over her shoulder. The woman in the white gown, her green eyes pierced through the glass of the mirror like small pools of light. Scully spun to face the image, frantically wiping at the residual drips covering her eyes. The woman stood there clear as day. This time she didn't speak her expression was one of confusion, she tilted her head slowly sideways and furrowed her brow. Her emerald eyes locked with Scully's were sad and questioning. Then just as surely as she was there she was gone again. Scully's eyes darted around the room. Looking for the image or any explanation as to what she had just seen. "John." She called out.

"Yeah."

"Are you alone out there?"

"Of course, what do you mean? You ok?"

"Ah yeah, sorry I won't be long."

"Ok, You sure you're ok." His voice came from directly behind the bathroom door now.

"Yeah fine." She turned back to the mirror and wiped a palm across the vapour that blurred it. Her mascara had run down her face a dark contrast to her skin that was paler than normal. She looked tired "I'm losing my mind." She said out loud to herself. Her image disappeared behind a large cloud of steam a reminder that she need to shower and get ready. She removed her clothes and stepped into the welcoming hot water. While the steady stream ran over her head and down her back she started to rationalise her most recent experience with the ghost, arguing both the scientific and paranormal conclusions. In short having the argument she would normally be having with Mulder at this point.

Supposed someone was slipping her and Ellen a hallucinogen, what would be there motive? Or what could they possibly gain from that? The missing honeymooners had not been located and Doggett had reassured her they had checked and rechecked all passengers' passports and the documentation of who had boarded and left the ship since it had set sail. The only other explanation was that they had gone overboard. Whether that was under malicious circumstances or of their own free will they would never be able to determine and unless their bodies washed up on a beach somewhere they were unlikely to be found in the hidden depths beneath them. More than likely their disappearances' would remain unsolved as there was no physical evidence from the ship to offer any other clues, which is the reason she found herself in her current position anyway.

Mulder would argue the ghost of a jilted lover was responsible, possessing those that had committed the same act that had led her to take her own life, robbing her of the love and happiness she had expected on that cruise. She would discover that the woman who had hung herself had striking emerald eyes and was left handed and that would explain why Ellen had too taken on these features. She stepped out of the shower, dried herself and grabbed the dress she had picked for the ball she laughed at herself. This dress was particularly short and sexy. Fine silver silk with a long slope down the back, a deep 'v' neck line and spaghetti straps. She was just grateful she could still wear something like this without a bra. Then she wandered what on earth had possessed her to buy it. It had been hanging in her closet for so long, never having the right occasion to wear it and she wandered if it would still fit.

A masquerade ball was supposed to be about being someone you weren't and maybe no-one would recognise you. This dress seemed to fit the bill perfectly. She blow dried her hair deciding to leave it down and curly for a change. Her makeup was sharp tonight, thick dark eyes and ruby red lips. Her mask was silver to match her dress with a few well-placed black and clear diamantes for decoration. It covered her eyes and half of the right side of her face. She starred at the woman's reflection in the mirror and didn't recognise herself, she felt like this case had taken her so far away from her reality she was starting to have doubt in her own capabilities as an investigator and then it hit her, like a jolt. She realised that she and Ellen had had their first 'visitation' from the ghost straight after their conversation at the pool. Ellen had revealed her own adulterous past and Scully had told her own fictional version of cheating within her marriage. The adulterous revenge theory was looking more credible whether the revenge was being sort out by a ghost of a jilted lover or by a mortal passenger, who had been eavesdropping that day, on-board this ship was the key to solving this case.

She stormed out of the bathroom in search of her partner….. and her heels. When she exited the bathroom Doggett was just placing his mask on. His was a white phantom of the opera mask; he was dressed in a sharp black tux and silk black tie. His hair had been slicked back off his face, he was almost un-recognisable as well. When he turned to face her his breath caught.

"Dana" He exclaimed. "You look amazing!" He looked behind her to the bathroom half expecting agent Scully to still be in there and whoever this was to introduce herself.

"Thanks." She brushed off his complement. "Look I had a thought about our case and the motive behind this possession/drug induced hallucinations." She waved her hands in the air absently "whatever. The day Ellen and I saw the apparition we had had a conversation by the pool. Ellen told me that Jason may not be the father of her baby." Doggett seemed to be looking her up and down instead of listening to her revelation. "Dogget!"

"Yeah, wow that's awful." He replied submissively.

"She was suspicious of the lack of….." she cleared her throat "affection in our relationship. So to quash her theories and avoid blowing our cover I made up a story about being unfaithful to you." For some reason that got Doggett's attention and he faced her taking every word she had to say in.

"Did she believe you?"

"Yeah."

He actually looked a little hurt at her response. "Anyway if our suspect was eavesdropping on that conversation it may explain why we were targeted." Doggett nodded in agreement. "Did you see Rick, will he meet with me?"

"He said he would find you, that's the best I could do Dana."

"I think we need to investigate the bar staff, they are the ones with the easiest access to our drinks and conversation, not only for just us that day but for everyone at every event. What about the couple who were cheated on, are they still aboard the ship?"

"Yes but remember we have significant surveillance on the spouses of those that went missing and the bar staff for that matter. Nothing has raised alarm." He shrugged.

"It's a big ship they could have easily missed something, especially if only the on-board investigator and F.B.I agent have access to that footage. Get them to look over the surveillance again, ask them to do a background on Mr Jackson - the other male passenger who experienced the visitation the same night as us. I'm betting he has an adulterous history as well. Also there's someone else I think needs looking into as a possible suspect." Doggett cocked his head questioning.

"I have been approached by an Italian man twice now. He introduced himself to me as Rico." She pronounced his name with a rich Italian accent. "He's about 6 feet, deep brown eyes, thick, dark full beard, thin masculine build." She raised her hand above her head pointed to her eyes and rubbed her chin as she listed his description. "He was there that day by the pool. He seems to be alone, wasn't really forth coming with what he was doing on the ship. It would be worth looking into."

Doggett nodded ok "Yeah sounds suspicious I'll make a call before we go. Speaking of which are you ready?"

"Yeah just let me get my heels." She walked over to the door where her black four inch stilettos sat and slipped them on her feet. She could feel Doggett watching her then catching himself and diverting his eyes guiltily and then leaving the room to make his call. She started having second thoughts about the dress.

When they entered the large dining room they were met with quite a different scene to its usual dinner setting. It was almost dark the only light source came from a large chandelier that spun in the middle of the large dance floor. The chandelier lights cast large diamond colours around the room of masked guests. Scully didn't recognise anyone, but everyone looked amazing.

The men were sharp, with ties and bow ties and slicked back hair. The woman's dresses varied in colour and size and fashion era. She had her hand hooked onto John's elbow lightly and they walked gracefully over to their usual table which was empty. Scully looked around for Ellen, Jason or anyone that she could recognise from her usual dinner crowd. She honestly couldn't make out anyone. The realisation made her suddenly uneasy. In a situation where a possible murderer was on the loose he or she could easily move about this crowd unrecognisable, even the serving staff were wearing identical masks making it hard to differentiate one from the other. "I can't tell who anyone is." Scully vocalised her observation to Doggett with concern.

"I guess that's the idea." He smiled at her. "By the way Agent Rick agrees with your theory on adultery being the motive. He confirmed that Jackson- the other passenger involved is in fact having an affair with one of the barmaids."

"That's another connection to the bar staff."

Doggett nodded in agreement "he also said not to worry about the Italian."

"No?"

"No, his story checks out. He said unless it's a crime to be too charming - he is innocent, whatever that means. Want to dance?"

Scully was surprised "What about the others?"

"He said he would have another look over the surveillance footage in the morning. Come on Dana take a few hours off." He grabbed two flutes of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter and handed her one. "Dance with me." She looked at the flute suspiciously hesitating for a moment then emptied it in two swallows. She scanned the room one more time for a familiar face. Seeing no one she took Johns out stretched hand.

Tonight they had a modern band as opposed to the orchestra they usually had during dinner. They were professionals, certainly not like a little band you would find playing in the corner of a bar more like someone you would pay to see. The male singer had a soulful voice making each song, despite the lyrics or beat sound romantic. They were playing 'stairway to heaven' when Scully and Doggett's feet hit the dance floor. The pace was slow; he placed a gentle hand in the centre of her back between her shoulder blades. She suddenly became acutely aware that her back was bare against his moist hand making it absolutely obvious she wasn't wearing a bra. Now she really regretted wearing the dress and was really hoping the song would fast forward to where the beats moved a bit quicker together. Their other hands cupped together and their bodies stayed a polite distance apart. She smiled shyly at him. "I like this song" He said breaking what was becoming an awkward moment.

"It is certainly a classic." The Drums kicked in and they began moving their feet a bit more quickly.

"And this singer, he's good isn't he."

"Very nice sound, yes." God could this get anymore awkward, she thought.

The instrumental kicked in and they were able to sway their hips and move their feet faster. The volume increased so they no-longer had to fill the silence with awkward small talk. Then a woman spun out from her partner's arms and her head landed on Doggett's shoulder.

"Hey guys."

"Ellen, Jason?" Scully paused mid step and concentrated on their masked faces.

"Yeah it's us."

"I didn't recognise you, everyone looks so different tonight."

"You stand out in a crowd red." Jason nodded to Scully's hair and she blushed slightly. "Especially in that dress" He made a 'yowza' motion with his mouth and if it was possible she blushed further and then contemplated if it was too late to change. Ellen giggled and they moved away dancing in circles then wrapping each other up in their arms as the song ended and the band started in with Electrical storm by U2.

"They seem to be happier." Doggett observed.

"Yes, good for them, would you excuse me John I might just go to the bar and grab a soda. Would you like anything?"

"No I'm fine thank you. I'll be over at the table."

She nodded and looked over at Ellen and Jason. They were slow dancing; her arms were wrapped around his neck his arms were around her waist. There wasn't an inch of their bodies that wasn't touching and he was dropping light kisses over her nose and lips. She smiled at them, she really was pleased that they looked happy but couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy too. Arriving at the bar she brushed passed a man excusing herself and leaning over the bar to try and get the barman's attention.

He was occupied making cocktails so she leant back again resting one hand on the bar and turning towards the occupant of the chair. A man wearing a suit almost identical to Doggett's was sitting staring at her with a very silly grin on his face. He also had a phantom of the opera mask on but there was no mistaking the beard.

"Rico." She stepped back putting a little distance between them.

"Bella." He held that silly grin on his face.

God that accent Scully thought, it sounded better than the love song playing in the background.

"Would you dance with me Bella?"

Scully looked at the bar tender who was still busy with a cocktail mix and six empty glasses to fill. She looked over at Doggett who had found a companion at their table and was deep in conversation. The song was coming to an end and Ellen and Jason were making their way to a seat. A very slow version of George Michaels 'careless whisper' started to fill the large dance floor. The notes seemed to bounce off the circling crystal lights around them. There was a twist of irony she thought when the song started.

'I feel so unsure as I take your hand and lead you to the dance floor.'

And she placed her hand in his and let him pull her into an embrace. Why did she feel so awkward dancing with Doggett, her partner who had become somewhat a friend this last week and yet she felt completely relaxed in this strangers arm's, safe, like he had held her many times before. His eyes were boring into hers and she held his gaze confidently. He was wearing contacts she noted but that nagging familiarity was tugging at the back of her mind. How could she possibly have been here before? His left hand rested on her hip his right hand held hers softly against their collective shoulders. The pace of the song had been slowed painfully, deliciously down. Their bodies instinctively swayed together, like they had been dancing for years, her head came to rest in the arch of his neck. Her thoughts were racing through her head, 'what was she doing?' 'Who is this man?' 'Why did she instinctively trust him?' 'What would Mulder say?' She convinced herself that it was because she missed Mulder, that if she closed her eyes and let her body lead her, she could pretend it was his ear, his jaw, his lips, his neck, his strong arms, his chest, his stomach, his….. With that thought her body moved imperceptivity closer. It wasn't pressed hard against him just enough to have her nerve endings tingle pleasantly. She could feel the pound of his pulse, under the raspy beard that was pressed against her forehead and then she felt him take a deep breath, he too was relaxing into her arms and in that moment they felt as if they were the only people in the room. The other dancers, the lights all drowned out by the notes in the song that drove their bodies closer and closer together. The soulful voice of the singer pushed the words of the song through her, seemingly singing her story, as his hand shifted from her hip to the middle of her shoulder blades skin touching skin.

'To the heart and mind ignorance is kind. There's no comfort in the truth pain is all you'll find.'

The light pressure his hand made between her shoulder blades pushed her breasts against his chest, she wasn't wearing a bra and the thin silky material of her dress was hiding nothing. Their clasped hands tucked between their shoulders even more, his breath was warm in her ear. The beats in the song came closer together, the volume increased and the singer shifted his voice up a gear.

'Tonight the music seems so loud; I wish that we could lose this crowd, maybe it's better this way we hurt each other with the things we want to say'

The increased tempo should have prompted them to move faster but they didn't their pace slowed till they were practically still only their upper bodies swaying together every inch connected.

'We could've been so good together; we could've lived this dance forever…'

His hand drifted down the length of her spine pressing her hard against him until his flat, firm, open palm came to rest in a familiar spot at the small of her back. Suddenly she was pulled from her reverie. 'What the hell was she doing, as much as she wanted it to be, this was not Mulder!' She placed both hands on his chest and pushed him away abruptly. Her breath was coming in small pants her arousal was obvious, she couldn't meet his gaze but she could see his expression out of the corner of her eye, he looked as confused as she felt. "Excuse me." She swivelled on her feet and quickly exited the dance floor, leaving him with his empty hands at his side and his heart on the floor. The band halted for the singer to dig deep into his stomach and sing

'I'm never gonna dance again the way I danced with you….'

Scully quickly walked through the cabin hall, almost tripping over her heels on the lush pile carpet. She was not herself; she needed a moment to clear her head and decided to take it alone in her cabin. As she stumbled down the long hall passing every large oak cabin door that now familiar uneasy feeling of being watched came over her and in response her flesh goose pimpled.

When she finally reached her cabin she paused with the key in the lock and looked to her left then to her right at the long hall that seemed to go on forever. A few yards away the woman appeared, her long gown was wet as was her hair that seemed impossibly black and her eyes, Scully had never seen anything that green that wasn't in a jewellery box. She blinked a few times hoping that would scatter the image, it didn't. She had had a glass of champagne if her theory was correct it could have easily been laced with something. The woman looked at her with pain written all over her face, Scully gathered her wits she wasn't one to scare easily and as she looked at the painful abrasion around the woman's neck, the physical and emotional hurt almost radiated from her, Scully couldn't help but feel anything but sorry for the woman.

Whether she really was a poltergeist or merely a trick of the mind, she had been a real woman once and one who had been in so much pain she only felt solace in taking her own life. Killing herself in such a violent way implied she felt the need to be punished. That she felt unworthy of the love she desperately craved.

Scully turned the lock and entered her cabin, leaving the image behind her in the hall. She sat on the edge of her bed and removed the mask that was digging into the bridge of her nose, she rubbed it soothing out the angry red mark it had left and let out an exasperated sigh. After a few minutes there was a gentle knock at the door.

"Dana?" Doggett called from behind the knock.

Scully sat up and composed herself. "Yeah John I'm in here."

The door opened "are you ok?"

"Yeah I just needed to grab, something from the bathroom." She lied and got up and made her way over to the bathroom, men never questioned a woman's need to get 'something out of the bathroom.'

"When I saw you dancing with Agent Rick I wandered if you two had come up with something new in our case."

She turned before reaching the bathroom door and walked back towards him, she couldn't hide the extreme shock on her face.

"What did you just say?"

"What? I thought you may have come up with some new evidence."

"No who do you think I was dancing with?"

"Agent Rick"

"That was Agent Rick?"

"Well yes, a version of him he's disguised as another passenger. Why who did you think it was? Did he have any new information?"

Scully was looking straight passed him, her mind working overtime connecting invisible dots. "No he didn't." Things had become clearer to her and she couldn't disguise the anger in her tone. "Is he still in the dining room?"

"No he left after you, I assu.."

"Excuse me John." She cut him off mid-sentence pushing passed him leaving the cabin. Doggett shrugged to himself in confusion and decided to go back to the dining hall alone.

Scully had Mulders note memorised. The name Rick, the cell number and the mysterious code she had found when rubbing her pencil over the pad on his desk that he had written her note on. 'CN231' it wasn't a code it was a cabin number and one that was located in a different section to hers and Doggett's. It was one of the cheaper rooms available on the cruise and often occupied by some of the long term workers on the ship. She found it easily and knocked softly on the solid door. She lowered the mask back onto her face squared her shoulders and swallowed her anger as the door slowly opened and standing in front of her was the man she had come to know as Rico.

"Can I come in?" she asked shyly.

He didn't answer her just opened the door further and stepped aside, a silent affirmation it was ok for her to enter. She clasped her hands together and stepped in looking apprehensive, she turned to face him. He looked really nervous and that pleased her, although she wished he would say something. "I'm sorry I left so quickly." She started.

He nodded and looked at the floor.

"You see I couldn't help but feel that there was something between us, something more than just a friendly dance." She stepped into him as she spoke moving into his personal space. He lifted his head from the floor to meet her gaze. "You remind me so much of someone, but it was wrong, you aren't him and I. Well I just don't do that." She said softly, speaking from her heart. "I could never betray the man I love."

He cleared his throat nervously; his mouth was dry and his voice raspy as he consciously made an effort to stick with the fake accent "Your husband saw us? He was angry?" He asked.

"No." she paused shyly, "I'm not talking about John." Her face was dead serious and her stare unwavering.

He was now very confused. Did she know it was him or was she actually prepared to cheat on him, before he could rationalise her actions make sense of her words she was moving closer to him, her eyes were on his lips. He didn't know whether to be extremely angry or extremely turned on. Ever since he had boarded this ship he had wanted to touch her, that dance they had shared was the best part of a very bad week. But she thought she was dancing with a stranger. He didn't know how to respond, he couldn't help but be curious of what she would do next, so he kept his hands at his side, his posture neutral and closed his eyes.

He was unsure if he heard or felt the sharp crack first as her palm connected painfully with his cheek. "Nice beard ….Agent Mulder


	6. Chapter Six

He was unsure if he heard or felt the sharp crack first as her palm connected painfully with his cheek. "Nice beard ….Agent Mulder

He responded with the first instinct he had. He claimed her mouth with his, grabbing her dress at the hips and pulling her flush against him. Her knees weakened for a moment, he was the only one that could totally disarm her in this way. She let out little 'ummm, ummm' noises as her lips melted under his and their masks scrapped awkwardly together, then she remembered she was actually angry at him. "No." Her voiced was muffled against the assault of his mouth against hers. She placed her hands on his upper chest and pushed him away. "Mulder. .no!" They stood centimetres away from one another; her hands still resting on his chest his never left her hips and both of them panting with desire. He paused for a second then bent down to kiss her again. "No" she pushed firmly on his chest again before his lips made contact.

"God Scully, what?"

Really! She thought to herself. "What do you mean what?!" she snapped at him.

He had let his need take over and he could clearly see now she was really not impressed. He knew her well, he knew she was about to unleash the mammoth of all lectures so he took a step back away from her and closed his mouth waiting for her to leta rip.

"You were here the whole time?! The whole time! Do you have any idea how worried I have been? How useless I have felt here and you dangled your flirty little Italian accent right in my face. What the hell is wrong with you? Did you really think that you could just throw me down on the bed and everything would be ok? God Mulder I thought you of all people would know me better than that. Just because we are together now, it doesn't give you the right to make me bend over and take it like this."

He choked out a slight laugh at her 'bend over comment'. He regretted it instantly.

"I'm glad you think this is funny. We have gotten nowhere in this case Mulder - nowhere and this Clark Kent act has only made things worse."

He nodded even though he completely disagreed; he had learnt a lot from what had happened in the last couple of days and all from her little adulterous charade. He had a theory and if he was right they were positioned perfectly to solve this case and put it behind them for good. But he knew better than to tell her that, nothing he could say would make it better anyway and deep down he knew that she knew he wouldn't purposely do anything to hurt her or put her life in danger. He knew she would realise he was simply following orders just like she was. That's when she completely surprised him. He was expecting another slap but instead she mimicked his actions from just moments ago. She threw her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply, firmly, making those delicious 'ummm, ummm' noises as she did.

He pressed against her the force making her step backwards until she hit the cabin door. "Ahhh" She cried out as her bare back hit the hard surface. He plunged his tongue into her mouth and pressed himself up against her. He bent his head to kiss and suckle at her shoulder, making his way slowly along the soft skin there.

Her hands ran frantically up and down his sides. "I'm still mad at you." She breathed out closing her eyes and stretching her neck as high as she could, offering him as much flesh to nip and suckle on as possible.

His lips were now making their way along her clavicle as his lower body thrust against her "I know" he said breathlessly between kisses.

"You ditched me." Her breath was coming in short pants.

"I know" he was making his way up her neck.

"ohhh. I was worried."

"I know" He reached that place behind her ear and started making his way along her jaw.

"Oh god I missed you." She finished her sentence against his mouth and he swallowed her words. After a few seconds her brain registered where they were. "Wait." She pushed her hands against his chest, pushing him back away from her again. Their lips parted with an audible slurp. His hands were still gripping her dress at her hips. He stepped back into her kissing her again; she began to relax into him for a few moments then pushed him away again, more softly this time. "Wait, stop. We can't do this here. Not now." She whispered against his swollen lips.

"God Scully why not, what's wrong?" He lifted an arm above her head on the door and leant his forehead against hers.

"There are cameras all over this ship Mulder. There are cameras in this room." She replied breathlessly.

"I can control the camera."

"You can but so can the detective on board. As soon as you take off that disguise, I take off this mask the undercover operation is over." They were still whispering. "She knows your real face she doesn't know mine or my true identity, but if she were to connect the dots Mulder. Connect you to me and then back to the bureau, this, us, on a video like this. It would be all the leverage the bureau would need to separate us. Close the X-files for good this time."

He breathed out, "True, but it would definitely top any of those video's I keep in my desk, you in that dress, these masks. We could make a best seller Scully." He teased.

"Mulder." She cautioned.

"Dammit" she was always right when it came to the logistics of their relationship. He took his hand from the door, letting go of her dress and stepped back to free her.

She pulled the sides of his black jacket together over his chest, brushing imaginary crumbs off the lapels and then straightened his tie "plus the beard is really….. Scratchy." She gave him one of her best smiles wiping the lipstick smudge from the corners of her mouth with a pinky as she did, then opened the cabin door. "I'm going back to the ball; you look like you could do with a cold shower."

He narrowed his eyes in her direction as the door closed slowly behind her.

When Scully returned to the ball she was pleased to see her usual dinner table was full of guests and as she drew closer recognised a few faces behind the masks. She took her usual seat next to John and he stood acknowledging her arrival. "Dana, did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes, thank you." She didn't meet his eyes afraid she would give something away with that statement. She took her seat and looked over at Ellen and Jason. "How are you feeling Ellen?"

"Much better thanks. I think you are right Dana it was all just a trick of the mind. "

Scully smiled and nodded politely not so sure of that anymore. She was trying to think scientifically but her paranormal instincts were starting to kick into over drive.

"You two look amazing tonight by the way. Dana I love that dress." Ellen complimented.

"Thanks you guys look pretty good too."

"Oh this old thing" Ellen responded rubbing her hands down the sides of her fitted red gown. Scully smiled at her pleased she seemed to be feeling much better. Just then the singer of the band interrupted the polite conversation in the room as the dance floor had emptied considerably and he was hoping to get the party started again.

"Ok folks" his smooth voiced echoed through the large room. "I see we have quite a few honeymooners at our party tonight, a few friends, a few lovers?" He dropped his voice suggestively "Grab the one you love, if you can't be with the one you love grab the one you're with then again this is a masquerade ball, grab a masked stranger and join us on the dance floor." A slow drum beat and light guitar sound started as the band started the next song – 'She will be loved' by Maroon five. Ellen winked at Scully the implications of being with someone and loving another behind the subtle gesture. Scully cautioned her with a warning look on her face as all of the couples stood from their table and made their way to the dance floor again.

All couples swayed closely together some were gazing at each other adoringly some had clearly had a bit too much to drink and needed to find a room. Scully relaxed into Doggett's arms a sudden calm over the situation came over her making this dance much less awkward. Whatever dim light they had on they turned off and each couple was almost alone on the dark dance floor. Scully closed her eyes thinking of the moments just prior to this one. Mulder was here he was safe and with that thought a warmth filled her belly.

Suddenly John stiffened as someone interrupted them by tapping him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me Agents. John do you mind if I cut in, I need a word with Agent Scully?" Mulder interrupted.

Scully looked him up and down, his suit and mask was practically identical to Doggett's, was it F.B.I issued she chuffed in her mind. He had shaved, removed the wig and contacts and now with those barriers gone she knew exactly who she was looking at, even behind the mask.

"Not at all Agent Rick" Doggett started to pass Scully's hand to his.

She took it back "actually I think we have said all we needed to before." She cocked an eyebrow and locked eyes with Mulder.

"Scully." He almost begged and put on his best sad look through the mask.

Doggett looked back and forth between the pair confused and unsure of what to do. They were locked in what appeared to be a stare war. He cleared his throat to remind them of his presence.

"Agent Doggett." Scully said not dropping her stare. "Meet Agent Mulder."

Doggett turned his head slowly from Scully to Mulder with his lower jaw on his chest. "You're Mulder?!"

"Shhh keep your voice down we are still under cover here guys." Mulder cautioned. "We have unfinished business Agent Scully." He tried to sound like his motive was purely professional but she got the innuendo in his tone, she was well accustomed to it.

"I don't believe it…. I'm staying out of this" Doggett answered placing Scully's hand in Mulders and leaving the dance floor.

Mulder pulled her firmly against him, holding nothing back this time. He placed his hand in that special little spot in the small of her back that happened to be naked in this dress against his warm palm. He interlocked their fingers and held them at their connected shoulders then flashed her a breath-taking cheeky smile.

"What are you doing?" She asked sounding very unconvincingly annoyed at him.

"I look like John; everyone will still think you are dancing with your husband, everyone but the ghost, that is". Scully gave him a questioning glance. "She targets adulterous men and woman right?" Scully half nodded half shook her head not willing yet to confirm his poltergeist theory. "Well when you let me do this." He pulled her lower lip into his mouth gently and then let it slowly slip out. She opened her heavy eye lids her body slacking slightly against him in response. "Our ghost will think you are cheating on your husband. I have a theory and if I'm right this will help her cross over."

"That's one hell of a line Agent Mulder, have you tried that one with other girls?"

"No I saved the spooky ones just for you." He touched his nose to hers and she smiled at him. The words of the song started to take over his own, almost like they were reading his thoughts.

For a while they were caught up in the song and the feel of each other. Scully almost startled when someone brushed her shoulder, it was Ellen and Jason.

"Look at you two, you're so cosy tonight." Ellen gushed at them and then danced away.

"See they don't suspect a thing." Mulder observed.

Scully didn't care anymore anyway; she suddenly felt very strange, a draft had run through her leaving her chilled to the bone. She felt light headed like something had taken over her, taken over her mind and body. Her head spun and she went completely limp at the knees. Mulder caught her before she crumbled onto the floor.

"Scully?" He scooped her up against him and her head lulled to the side like it was too heavy for her shoulders. "Scully?" He called to her willing her to refocus, take back her own weight. She made an undecipherable noise. "Scully, look at me" She was starting to straighten, hold herself up. She recovered and started to dance against him again, tucking her head on his chest. "Scully, what the hell was that, are you ok?" He tried to pull her back but she held her head against his chest not wanting to look up at him.

"I'm alright, just dance with me." She answered her voice sounding childlike.

He felt a little apprehensive, she felt odd in his arms, different, suddenly her skin was cold to the touch. He tried to pull her back again so he could look down at her face but she pulled her arms around his waist and buried her cheek further into his chest. He tentatively rested his hands on her hips. "Are you sure you're ok?"

She nodded against his chest so he rested his chin on top of her head, still not convinced everything was ok. They moved in silence for a while, feeling unsure he tried to move her away every now and then to look down at her face. But each time she seemed to just draw into him closer.

"She doesn't love you, you know." Scully said against his chest he couldn't tell if her voice had changed or if it was being distorted by the loud music in his ear."

"Pardon?"

"She's a cheating, lying whore how could she know what real love is."

He gripped her shoulders and pushed her back away from him. Her eyes were impossibly green in the dim light and her hair almost looked black. She wobbled on her feet looking drunk.

"Are you going to take her to bed now, she wants it you know, this little whore." Her voice was definitely altered, it was a higher pitch. She almost cackled evilly.

"Alexandra?" Mulder replied, he knew Scully would never speak this way.

Scully's face tightened in recognition of the name he spoke and then she closed her eyes and slipped out of his hands to the floor.

Scully started to climb the ladder of consciousness when she opened her eyes she thought she had slipped into an alternate reality for a second. She was surrounded by plastic decorated faces and then she remembered where she was and unfortunately what had just happened. "I'm Ok." She reassured all the fussing voices that were starting to become audible again. Someone grabbed her arm, as she started struggling to stand, and pulled her up. She felt instantly better once on her feet, but her skin felt like ice. People started to move away as Mulder nodded and gestured with his hands that she would be ok. Of course he couldn't speak she realised, everyone still thought he was John. Once they were alone on the dance floor again he whispered to her "are sure you're ok Scully?"

"I'm fine." She smiled reassuringly. Actually she felt better than fine her body was warming pleasantly, she felt light and loose and free. She placed an open palm on his chest. "There has to be a place on this ship with no cameras." She looked up at him seriously.

"Well there is one place…." He answered.

"Take me there….."


	7. Chapter Seven

There was a door in this dark hallway somewhere, it was labelled library and covered in cobwebs -a sure sign no-one ever came down here. When he found it he pushed it open, his other hand was firmly in hers. He pulled her into the dark room and shut the door behind them. The room was pitch black and so silent all they could hear was the sound of their collective breaths. "Have you got a light?" As she spoke she heard a 'click' and a little torch light came on; she had wandered why he had dropped her hand. She looked around in the dull light they were surrounded by old furniture covered in dust and cobwebs. It smelled like the air hadn't been disturbed in many years. "Nice, it reminds me of your office."

"HA! Over here." He took her hand and started moving her around old empty shelves and furniture. She started making a noise as they moved, a noise he hardly ever heard from his very professional, serious partner – she was giggling. He found what he was looking for, a large leather couch and chair set sitting around a rug. There was a window behind the couch that cast a soft light over the setting. He stopped in the middle of the rug and spun around to face her "You don't giggle."

"I don't?" She questioned innocently.

"Well you laugh, usually at me. You yell, again usually at me, you cry…"

"Stop, I can't take all these compliments." She said sarcastically.

"Well you do make some pretty amazing noises in my presence also." He wrapped his arms around her waist.

"hmm"

"You're different, is what I was trying to say? Do you remember anything?"

She shook her head "just bits and pieces, she thinks I'm cheating on my husband but she was confused too. I think she can access some of my memories and that confused her a bit."

"That's what I was banking on." – He cleared his throat and then began speaking as if he was addressing an audience. "Her lips were red, her looks were free, Her locks were yellow as gold: Her skin was as white as leprosy, The Night-mare LIFE-IN-DEATH was she, Who thicks man's blood with cold.'"

"You're reciting poetry to me now?" She teased.

"' Since then, at an uncertain hour, That agony returns: And till my ghastly tale is told, This heart within me burns.'" He continued

"'Water, water, every where. And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink.'" She matched his tone as she continued to recite the poem. "The rime of the ancient mariner, my father was a sailor Mulder this was practically a bed time story, what's your point."

"My point Scully, is that her husband's sin became her albatross - a curse she literally hung herself with. In the Rime all the sailors died for condoning the sin that was killing the albatross right? The adulterous passengers on this ship appear to be suffering the same fate. The Mariner lived on cursed for all time to tell his tale"

She nodded looking passed him it was making weird sense "I pass, like night, from land to land; I have strange power of speech; That moment that his face I see, I know the man that must hear me: To him my tale I teach."

"See you get it." He swayed their hips together.

"Ok say you are right, how do we stop her, how do we break her curse and set her free?"

He drew a deep breath expanding his chest "'A spring of love gushed from my heart, And I blessed them unaware: Sure my kind saint took pity on me, And I blessed them unaware. The self-same moment I could pray; And from my neck so free The Albatross fell off, and sank Like lead into the sea.'" He replied proudly.

"The mariner was blessed with love and the curse was lifted." She summarised for him.

"All you need is love Scully."

"Ok now you're rhymes are jumping centuries"

He smiled down at her. "Alexandra's sister Adriane was pregnant with her husband Jonathon's baby. But Jonathon called it off with Adriane, he chose Alexandra, I don't think she knows that. We need to somehow tell her, show her she was loved, let her feel love." Scully nodded "How do you feel now?"

"I feel different, I feel weird, light, a little drunk" She moved their hips together. "Are you sure there are no cameras in here."

"Positive, we have been surveying the ship through cameras as well as physically. In short I have walked every corner of this floating city. This section hasn't been used for years so we didn't think it necessary to put cameras down here."

"Seems like a good hide out for a ghost?"

"No from what I can tell she tends to stick to the cabin halls."

"So we are alone then?" She pushed him down so he was sitting on the couch and she was standing between his knees. "Take off that mask I want to see your face."

He pulled the mask off and threw it onto the floor "you too, I need to see your eyes, make sure it's really you in there?"

She pulled the mask off and threw it next to his, then placed her hands on his knees and bent down to kiss him tenderly on the lips. When she slowly pulled her mouth away she asked "Does that answer your question?"

"Hmm well no actually it…"

"Shut up Mulder."

"There she is" He put a firm hand behind her head and pulled her into a passionate kiss. She let him kiss her for a few minutes before she drew his bottom lip into her mouth. Mimicking what he had done to her on the dance floor then released it slowly. He went back for her lips seeking them with a hunger she hadn't felt in a long time.

She used one hand to brace herself on his thigh and the other to hook her thumb over the waist band of her underwear letting them fall down her legs to the floor. She stepped out of them losing her shoes at the same time and brought her knees to rest either side of his hips, never once breaking the seal of his kiss. As she settled down onto his lap he placed a firm hand on each of her hips lifting her pelvis and placing it flush against his. She started to move her hips rocking them forward and back, the thin material of his pants causing a barrier to what she wanted most of all. Forward and back she moved slowly and he held his hands just above her hip bones not putting any pressure on her, letting her find her own rhythm and take what she needed from him.

The muscles in her legs tensed and relaxed as they moved either side of him, the sight of them was mesmerising and the urge to touch them overcame him. His hands left her hips and began stroking the skin over her thighs moving them up and down as she rose and fell, enjoying the feel of the strong slender muscles underneath them and hitching her skirt even higher.

The feeling of his warm soft hands over her thighs made her need even more of him so she pushed her tongue deep into his mouth desperately trying to show him what she really wanted, what she really needed. He could read her loud and clear, they were always good at silent communication and their love-making was no exception. Leaving one hand on her thigh he placed the other on her lower back, rocking her rhythmically against him but it wasn't enough, he desperately needed more so he went to work on un-doing his belt and zip.

She broke their kiss then, pulling back just far enough to smile against his lips. He opened his eyes to look at her, her eyes were closed her smile was radiant and beautiful. She had stilled her hips preparing herself to move forward and make that final connection.

"Open your eyes Scully."

"It's me, Mulder" She answered breathlessly. She moved forward ready to sink onto him completely, the need in his voice making her pause.

"Open your eyes."

"Mulder," she flicked her eyelids open and met his heavy gaze "it's me."

Well that was all the convincing he needed, with a subtle push of his hand against the small of her back he was completely inside of her. Her eyes fell closed again and her head fell back as her hips started to move, slowly, forward and back, up and down. He stayed grounded again letting her take what she needed from him. Their souls joined hands as their bodies did and they walked along that cliffs edge, teetering on falling together.

Her movements became more frantic as her desire increased. The pebbles were starting to fall under their feet as they walked closer to the edge together. His own passion was fierce holding back until now he couldn't stop himself from thrusting up and meeting her halfway. The extra depth drove her almost to the edge as she leant her hands back to rest on his knees. The front of her dress dropped dangerously low before his eyes. He could see the lines that ran between her rib bones until they met the soft flesh of her breast. He tilted himself forward running his mouth, first down the column of her neck and then along her shoulder causing the tiny strap of her dress to fall away from his tongue and down her arm. He made his way down the front of her chest his tongue and lips taking turns at tantalising the flesh beneath it.

"Oooh" She cried out at the change of angle and the sensation his tongue was inflicting upon her.

He reached the high curve of her breast and made his way over its edge suckling, licking, tasting until he reached the deep v of the neckline in her dress and nestled his face deep into her cleavage.

They were both so close his need for oxygen and release became too hard to control. He grabbed her hips pushing her harder down onto him and flicking her forward to face him completely. Their open mouths meet forcefully as their bodies were and they cried out together as their wandering souls reached the edge of that cliff and fell. It was a long fast fall down that deep crevice, the heat covering their skin, the air rushing through their veins; they floated together, until they hit solid ground.

Her knees were locked into his hips; her hands were clasped behind his neck. His hands held their firm grasp of her hips. Their foreheads were moist and poised firmly together, their mouths open but lips slightly parted from each other as they panted desperately needing to catch their breath. They stayed there for a few minutes until they came completely back to themselves and their heart rate and oxygen requirements became normal again. He pressed his lips softly against hers again. Pecking first at her top and then to her bottom lip. She shivered slightly as a chill ran up her spine.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, Mulder that was…"

"Yeah, it was… You should get possessed more often."

That earned him a playful slap "something was definitely awakened in me." She conceded.

He fell sideways coming to lie down on the old couch, pulling her to lay half on top of him.

"We can't stay here." She said sleepily, after a few moments.

"mm"

"We need to go back to the ball."

"mmm"

"Mulder?" She tapped her hand on his chest.

"Just give me a minute Scully, I need the blood to redistribute to my feet again, they're a little numb."

She giggled again nuzzling her face into his chest.

They re-entered the dining hall separately, Scully first with Mulder just a few paces behind her. Mulder spotted Doggett walking towards them so quickened his pace.

"Where the hell have you two been?" He was obviously flustered.

"We were returning a library book." Mulder quipped.

Doggett looked at him confused. "What?!"

"What's wrong John?" Scully interrupted the awkward confusion.

"Another passenger is missing, Jackson the man that saw the ghost the same night as you and Ellen, hasn't been seen by his wife or any other passenger since this morning. We think he has vanished like the others." Mulder and Scully looked at him now fully engaged in what he had to share. "This information is yet to spread through the passengers but I dare say once this party is over there is going to be a few distressed honeymooners." He put his hands in his pocket nervously.

"I'm confused, if seeing this image leads to your disappearance then why is Ellen still here or me for that matter why choose this man over us? We all saw her on the same night." Scully questioned.

"More to the point how do we know you or Ellen won't disappear?" Doggett replied looking over Scully's shoulder at Mulder.

"I have a theory on why she didn't take Ellen." Mulder started. Doggett and Scully turned giving him their full attention. "She's pregnant."

"But the baby is probably not her husbands." Scully replied.

"Ah but it might be. Alexandra really wanted children, pregnancy and children were very important to her when she was alive there's no reason why she wouldn't carry these values over to the next life as well."

"What about me? I'm obviously not pregnant? I've seen her three times now, not to mention what happened on the dance floor." Scully retorted.

"No, you're not pregnant." Mulder hesitated knowing that was a sore point for her. "But you aren't actually cheating on your husband either. I think she is still trying to figure you out."

She needed to at least try and argue a scientific point of view, especially in front of Doggett. "I take it we are no longer considering the possibility that a member of the crew staff is lacing peoples cocktails with hallucinogens?" She turned to directly face him. Doggett was practically, physically pushed out of the conversation suddenly feeling like he was interrupting a familial moment between these two.

"You tell me Scully, she was in your head."

"Yes, but I don't really remember…"

"I was there Scully your eyes and hair colour changed, even your voice - we've seen this before Scully those possessed by spirits taking on their physical attributes..." she was looking at him blankly. "Alright then tell me if you know of a drug that has that effect, because I can't think of one?"

"PCP, LSD, all powerful hallucinogens Mulder just to name a few and all known to cause people to exhibit unusual behaviour. Lower inhibitions, deranged hallucinations such as thinking you have the ability to fly, leading someone to plunge to their death. Even short term use has been known to cause suicidal tendencies. It could explain why people simply disappeared maybe they simply walked over board. There are new drugs coming onto the market all the time, who's to say someone hasn't made one that also causes changes to the DNA helix altering a person's eye colour hair colour, even alter them biologically."

He was doing that thing where he starred at her letting her indulge in her scientific explanation right before he hit her with something she couldn't explain. "I called you Alexandra Scully; you recognised that name as your own, right before you fall into my arms. No drug that is ingested has an effect for less time than it takes to do the 'time warp' on the dance floor before completely leaving the system undetected."

Her tone softened "Well you could argue that I exhibited lowered inhibitions and lingering euphoric behaviour post my so called possession." She cocked an eyebrow at him.

He smirked at her attempt at an innuendo "you have to give me some credit for that."

Doggett cleared his throat. Both of their heads snapped in his direction, they had forgotten he was standing there. "Hang on a minute you've seen this ghost three times now? When were you going to share this with me?" He looked at Scully "and what exactly happened on the dance floor?"

She was looking at him blankly, like she wasn't even listening to him. "She was wet."

"What?!" Doggett replied wishing someone would make sense soon.

Scully turned back to Mulder. "She was wet the last time I saw her and she was so cold, my skin was freezing. For argument sake let's say you are right and we have a spirit possessing these passengers. She could have walked them right off this ship."

Mulder could read her thoughts loud and clear. "I'll call the coastguard and have a look at the surveillance footage from the day." Scully nodded.

Mulder turned to Doggett. "Don't let her out of your sight" then left.

"I feel like something just happened? Did something just happen Dana?"

"Dance with me Agent Doggett I'll explain it to you there."

"So Agent Mulder believes this woman – Alexandra – has come back from the dead to take over the bodies of those who cheat on their spouses and walk them overboard. Killing them because they did to their spouses what hers did to her." Doggett looked disbelieving at Scully as he rocked her side to side, face to face on the dance floor again. She pouted and nod/shook her head in a non-committal confirmation. "And what the coastguard is going to pull this man Jackson's body out of the water?"

"Well regardless of why or how it got there, a body would certainly help our investigation wouldn't it Agent Doggett?"

"This is crazy. I can't, I don't believe it. So this is what you two do then? You know I've heard the stories but this, how do you catch the killer, how do you prosecute a case like this, and what am I supposed to report back to the bureau?"

"Don't, just wait until this thing plays out, that's generally what I do. Mulder has a plan all we have to do is stick to our little adulterous charade and trust that he knows what he is doing." She actually felt sorry for him and thankful someone else got to play her role for a change. She spotted Ellen walking towards them and dropped Doggett's arms to meet her.

"Dana, thank god you're ok?" Ellen said grabbing Scully's arm. Jason followed closely behind.

"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"

"You went really wonky on the dance floor, I saw you leave with John I assumed you were resting but then John said he couldn't find you. We looked everywhere, I was so scared." She put her hand to her forehead feeling slightly dizzy herself.

Jason steadied her by putting his arm around her shoulders. "We thought you had gone missing like the others." He finished for his wife.

"Where did you go?" Ellen looked up at Scully accusingly. "Who were you with?"

"Yes where were you honey?" John asked sternly.

Scully saw the perfect opportunity to set their trap. "I ah. . ."She looked nervously at all three masked faces starring at her. "I wasn't with anyone Ellen you must have been mistaken. I simply went for a walk, alone. Come on you look a little pale can I take you to get a drink of water?" She hooked an arm through Ellen's and guided her away from the two men.

"Dana?"

"Shhhh just keep walking I need to talk to you." Scully whispered walking her towards their table. She sat down and pulled Ellen into the chair beside her, turning her so their knees were touching and they were face to face. "You know that guy I was telling you about?"

Ellen creased her brow and shook her head. "What guy Dana, you're scaring me what's wrong? Did someone hurt you? Your dress it's all creased?"

Scully pulled at her skirt, embarrassed she hadn't noticed that before. "No nothing like that, remember I told you by the pool the other day about the man I work with?"

"You mean Mr no official capacity." Ellen physically relaxed when she realised who she was talking about and smirked.

Scully chuffed at the irony of her fictional albeit actual description of Mulder. "Yes, on the ship deck this morning, remember I thought I saw someone I knew. . ." She waited for Ellen to connect the dots herself.

Ellen's face lit up when she realised what she was saying "Wait he's here."

"Shhhhh yes and he wants us to be together. He wants to make things official.

"Oh my god Dana." She reached out to tap her hand reassuringly. "Did you tell him it's a little late for that? You're kind of, you know married now?"

Scully lowered her head pretending to be physically upset. "I did, he won't take no for an answer." She looked up at her friend. "But the truth is Ellen I don't want to say no to him. I really love him Ellen. I think." She hesitated for dramatic effect. "I think I'm going to tell John. I think I'm going to leave him."

"Dana." Ellen breathed out her name apparently in complete disbelief.

Scully stood "I need to see him." She said loudly hoping that drew the right kind of attention. She quickly walked towards the exit.

Ellen got up and walked over to the bar where John and Jason were now standing. As she approached them alone John stopped mid sip. "Where's Dana?" He asked with obvious concern.

"Ah," she paused "She said she needed a rest. I guess she is still feeling dizzy from her little spell on the dance floor earlier."

He dropped his drink on the bar and started for the door.

"John" she called after him. "John leave her, trust me she just needs some time." He kept walking "John!"

"I can't let her out of my sight!" He called back, repeating what Mulder had said mere minutes ago. He marched down the hall, looking each ways as he passed. When he reached their cabin he hurriedly shoved the key in the lock, the door practically flew off its hinges when it finally opened "Dana?" he called as he looked in every corner opened every door. "Dana?" He repeated over and over again but got no reply. "Dammit" he cursed himself. He'd only left her for one minute, possibly not even that, where could she have gone in that time!? He pulled his satellite phone out of the desk in their cabin and dialled Mulders phone.

He answered on the first ring "Yeah what?"

"Mulder, its John Doggett." He tried to keep the nervousness in his tone to a minimum. But could easily hear he wasn't pulling it off.

"Where's Scully?"

"Ah"

"I'm in the surveillance room Doggett I can see you on my live feed. I told you not to let her out of your sight. Tell me she's in the bathroom Agent Doggett."

"Ah I wish I could do that but. . ."

"Dammit Doggett, I found Jackson on our camera and we were right, he walked right off the edge of the ship. We have life boats in the water and the coastguard on the way but so far no body. It was her; it was Alexandra his eyes were that impossible green we saw before." There was a pause in the conversation as Doggett tried to formulate an adequate response and Mulder looked through his camera feed looking for Scully. Then she appeared on the screen in front of him. "Shit!"

"What, what is it?"

"She's on the deck, I'll meet you there." Doggett's ear met disconnected dial tone. He slammed the phone into his pocket and ran towards the ship deck.


	8. Chapter Eight

As Doggett crossed the deck he could see them in the distance. They had discarded their masks so he did the same shoving it into his pocket. Mulder was standing ten paces back from Scully who looked drunk as she walked unsteadily along the edge of the ship on the wrong side of the protective railing. Mulders hands were out stretched open palmed in a surrender pose. Doggett supposed trying to negotiate her back over the rail. He approached slowly as you would in any negotiation scenario and came to stand a close distance next to Mulder. The men looked at each other, a silent prayer sent up between them. Doggett looked over at Scully again who had her back turned to them, her hair – it was black. He wandered how on earth that was possible and then she turned to face him. He physically fell backwards on his feet as if the green itself jumped off her irises and tried to knock him to the floor.

Her face softened when she saw him. "Darling don't be afraid." Her voice was different high pitched and childlike. "She told you she loved only you. She said in sickness and in health, she promised to honour and cherish you." She paused and walked a little closer to them. "She lied, she doesn't love you. Her heart always lay in his bed." She narrowed her stare and aimed it at Mulder.

"I told you Alexandra. . ." Mulder stopped mid-sentence and both men gasped physically falling forward when her heal slipped off the edge and Scully's figure almost tumbled to the depths below, catching the rail just in time.

"Don't talk!" She fired at him.

Mulder closed his mouth breathing fiercely out of his nose.

"I can see her, I can see them." She dropped her head back and closed her eyes accessing Scully's memories. Her eyes moved behind her eyelids as the images unfolded behind them. "Their thirst for each other is unquenchable. Her body quakes beneath his, he calls her name as he. . . Who's Scully?" she opens her eyes and stares back at Mulder, looking somewhat confused.

"Scully, Dana Scully that is her real name. Alexandra listen to me she is not married to John; there is no John and Dana Smith. We are F.B.I agents. She is my partner and she is my. ." Doggett turned his head to Mulder suddenly curious as to how he was going to finish that sentence.

"You're a liar." Unfortunately she didn't let him finish. "She said till death do you part well I guess I'm holding her to that promise, at least she can keep that one."

Doggett was suddenly pulled from his utter disbelief, the magnitude of strange that was playing out before his very eyes had drowned him into a stupor. "He's right." He finally spoke, meeting those green eyes head on. "Listen to what he has to say. I'm not her husband, she doesn't love me. We only met a few weeks ago." He laughed at the ridiculousness he felt talking to Scully like it wasn't Scully.

Scully's face looked completely blank and confused as the soul that occupied her body tried to make sense of the memories she saw and the words she was hearing.

"I know Jonathon hurt you Alexandra." Mulder spoke calmly. She shook her head; she didn't want to hear this. "Listen to me your sister she was pregnant she was carrying his baby." Mulder's tone became more urgent.

"No, No, No stop talking." She began pacing along the thin edge.

Mulder took a step closer. "He chose you Alexandra; he left her and his child for you. He loved you."

Tears were now falling on Scully's cheeks from Alexandra's green eyes. Mulder nodded at her trying to reiterate his last point and then took another tentative step towards her. "Come back over the rail." He tried extending a hand to her. She turned her back to him and began walking away from him. He dropped his hand and head in disbelief.

"We wanted to have a baby." She sobbed in her child voice. "I was ovulating you know, I took a test and everything. We were going to conceive our child on our honeymoon. It was going to be perfect." Her features hardened again. "You're a liar! Who would call their lover by their last name?"

Mulder sighed heavily in frustration. "Look into her memories, you can see her past. Tell me if you see a wedding, if you see her with John. If you don't believe me look into Scully's, into Dana's memories!" He stepped closer to her again as she shut her eyes and put her head back again.

…..'But you saved me, as difficult and as frustrating as it's been some times your godam strict rationalism and science has saved me a thousand times over. . . . You kept me honest, made me a whole person. . . I owe you everything. . . Scully and you owe me nothing. I don't know if I want to do this alone. . . I don't even know if I can. But if I quit now they win . .'

. ' She snapped her eyes open and looked at him with Scully blue. He was within arm's reach now. Then as quickly as they were blue they were emerald green again and she closed them and threw her head back. Her chest was rising and falling as she seemed to be struggling for breath and her hold on Scully.

'Scully, I was like you once- I didn't know who to trust. Then I... I chose another path... another life, another fate, where I found my sister. The end of my world was unrecognizable and upside down. There was one thing that remained the same. You... were my friend, and you told me the truth. Even when the world was falling apart, you were my constant... my touchstone'

'And you are mine.'

She snapped her eyes open her and Mulder were now face to face, he was so close he could reach out and drag her over the rail but he was afraid any sudden movement would cause her to step back. "She loves you." Her expression was one of pure joy and forgiveness. He was sure her eyes flicked back to blue for a second.

"And I love her" he answered honestly barely above a whisper. He was playing his hand completely now. There was nothing left to lose.

Scully's body stood sternly. The tears had dried and she stood with a new found confidence. "You need to tell her!" she told him and then she closed her eyes, tilted her head and began to slowly fall backwards. Mulder reached forward quickly clasping her wrists in his hands and Doggett ran to his side reaching to grab her arm as well. They held Scully slumped lifelessly over the rail and watched Alexandra's spirit fall to the depths below. Her white gown fluttered in the wind her long hair tangled around her face. As she fell she watched them with that unforgettable green until it faded into the black night sea. The curse was broken her albatross fell from her neck and set her free.

Once she was gone the green lights extinguished Doggett and Mulder pulled Scully's body over the rail. Mulder pulled his jacket off and wrapped it around her cradling her limp form in his arms. "Scully?" he called to her shaking her.

Doggett looked down at them a little breathless from his sudden exertion and adrenalin rush. "I'll go get a paramedic." Mulder didn't answer or look up at him so he left anyway.

"Scully?"

She began to stir opening her eyes looking groggy "Mulder?"

"Yeah it's me, I'm here"

The biggest smile lit her face and she gazed at him truly seeing him through her blue eyes. "You said you love me."

"You mean you doubted that?"

She pouted and shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, you were dangling over the edge of a ten story fall where you would have surely met certain death. I had to say something to get you. . ."

"Shut up Mulder." She put her hand behind his neck and pulled his lips to hers.

The kiss paused but their eyes and lips stayed closed together. "I do love you." he whispered onto her mouth and then he kissed her again.

########

Agent Fox Mulder shut down his computer and punched the off button on the screen with his thumb. He was done for the day; actually he was done for the day two hours ago. Four weeks he had been off that cruise ship and he had finally, finally finished the last account summary for expenses secondary to damages incurred during the investigation. Actually it was his partners wardrobe that cost the most in this case, but that was a pleasant change and for him a bonus.

He stood from his desk and walked over to the printer taking the expense report and filing it in his cabinet labelled X. That's when he heard someone approach his door. Not many people came down to his basement office especially at this time of night. He considered grabbing his gun but the foot falls were too heavy for someone who was planning a surprise attack, the sound stopped just short of the door then Agent Doggett apprehensively slid around the frame.

"Agent Doggett." He greeted him then went back to his desk to grab his belongings.

"Agent Mulder" he greeted him back. "I thought you might still be down here."

"Actually I was just on my way out." Mulder pulled his jacket off the rack with his finger and flung it over his shoulder.

"Is Agent Scully still here?" He looked around the office.

"No she took a personal day today. Did you need her for something?"

"No." There was a long awkward pause.

"Agent Doggett there is a bad Chinese food carton out there with my name on it. What can I help you with?"

"Sorry. I won't keep you I just wanted to say I signed your report and to tell you. .. "

"I saw that thank you, thanks for your contribution by the way you writing that whole paragraph really cut down the computer time for us." He said sarcastically.

"Agent Mulder I didn't know what else to say. I. . ."

"The truth Agent Doggett, then again I know that would put you at our table in the cafeteria. It's not easy being one of the weird kids is it?"

"Look I signed the dam report, I didn't come here to argue with you Agent Mulder I came here to tell you they found the bodies."

"What!"

"All but the original missing person Jonathon Jacobs - Our ghost's husband."

"Where?" Mulder was practically gapping.

"Huh, they were tied by a noose around the neck to the bottom of the ship." Doggett winced as he spoke.

"Ha. All of them?" Mulder maintained composure, seemingly un-phased by his revelation.

"Well what was left of them, yeah. There is no explanation as to how they got there. It takes an experienced dive crew two days to prepare and reach those depths. There is no way someone could have put them down their while the ship was moving. It was only by coincidence that they found them during a routine check."

Mulder nodded. "I guess I'll let you write that up, seeing as they came to you with that information and not me. Goodnight Agent Doggett." He brushed his shoulder and walked passed him to leave.

"Agent Mulder," he followed him down the corridor. "Look you're pissed at me I get that I walked away from this but, but."

"But?"

"But – Agent Scully's, Ellen's test results were negative for any hallucinogens. Negative for any drugs at all."

"I told you that would be the case when we were on board that ship Doggett."

"Yes but what happened to her? She was her but she was not her, that woman that image I saw. It couldn't have been real."

…" 'He went like one that hath been stunned, And is of sense forlorn: A sadder and a wiser man He rose the morrow morn.'" Mulder replied. The mariner's tale had ended and many lessons had been learnt. Then he turned and left him in that hall to ponder his un-written report.

He turned the key in the door awkwardly balancing his Chinese food in one hand, noodles dripping down his chin. Once inside the apartment he kicked his shoes off spotting a slight figure curled up on his couch. He took his jacket off and flicked it over the back of a chair then exhaled as he loosened his tie. He walked over to the couch and sat on the coffee table in front of the couch surprised all the noise hadn't woken her. Then he slurped another spring roll into his mouth. That woke her.

She turned her head to face him and opened her sleep heavy eyelids. "Hi." She smiled and rolled onto her back.

"Hi, watcha doin on my couch? If I had of known you would be here I would have come home earlier." He finished his mouth full, wiped his lips then bent down and kissed her softly on the hair line. "Are you hungry?" He pulled out an egg roll and pointed it at her mouth.

She scrunched her nose. "No, thanks all the same. I needed to talk to you about something."

"Ok" he put down the food and moved to sit next to her on the couch lifting her legs and placing them on his lap. "You ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine. I spoke to Ellen today."

"How's she doing?"

"Well she had her scan and they confirmed the gestation of the pregnancy it is thankfully Jason's baby. They really did conceive on their wedding night."

"That's good news?" She didn't look convinced "Isn't it good news Scully?"

"It is but she told him about the affair and well he moved out. I'm not sure if reconciliation for him is an option."

"That's too bad." He replied not really sounding overly concerned or surprised. He pushed her to the edge and lay himself down between her and the back of the couch. He rubbed his hand along her leg from knee to hip and settled his nose between her earlobe and jaw closing his eyes and pretending he was going to drift off to sleep.

"Too bad Mulder?" she nudged him with her shoulder.

"She cheated Scully, what, do you want me to feel sorry for her?"

Scully realised his own mothers infidelity was a particularly sore spot for him, especially given the identity of his biological father as a result of that infidelity. So she didn't respond just placed a hand over the arm that was now flung heavily over her stomach. She drew a deep breath watching his arm rise and fall heavily over her. "Well I guess that confirms why Alexandra left Ellen alone then. She must have known the baby was Jason's that they had conceived on their honeymoon night, just like she wanted to."

"MMMM" he responded sleepily. "Oh," He lifted his head up suddenly. "They found the bodies?"

"All of them?"

"Yeah, she hung them from the bottom of the ship."

Scully raised her brows and Mulder nodded in confirmation. "You sure you're ok Scully you seem different?"

"I do?"

"You're all flushed and I don't know different, you feel different." He moved his hand under her fitted t-shirt to rest it under her breast. "You smell good though." He said nestling his nose back behind her ear then began placing whisper soft kisses along the tendon in her neck.

She closed her eyes and tilted her head back as he kissed back up the column of her throat, until he reached her chin. "I am different" she whispered. He paused lifting his line of sight to hers with a question mark planted over his expression. "I can't explain it.. . . .Alexandra changed me. . . . . You saw her change my eye colour and my hair colour. But she changed me in so many other ways as well."

That question mark on his face repeated itself as she placed her palm on top of his hand and guided it slowly down her abdomen. "She was a fertile woman Mulder." She slid their hands lower stopping just below her belly button, her womb nestled safely below their collective palms.

His expression took on a state of disbelief when he began to realise what she was saying.

One of her eyes twinkled with the hint of a tear and her voice cracked as she whispered to him . . . . "I'm Pregnant."

 

THE END


End file.
